16 BULLETIN 362, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
have furnished these returns, and subtracted. Any returns from 
cobs sold are subtracted from cob corn. The net expense is then 
ascertained from these subtractions. 
The net unit expense is determined by dividing the amount of ex- 
pense by the number of bushels handled. Since in the operation of 
an elevator there are other items of expense which are more or less 
fixed, and not within the control of the manager, it is necessary to 
take these into account as a further consideration in arriving at the 
total cost of operation. 
Bad debts in most cases will be prorated between sales of coal and 
sales of other merchandise. 
Depreciation should be distributed against the elevator on the same 
basis as other charges after having deducted a proper amount for 
depreciation of coal sheds, warehouses, etc. 
Shrinkage and scale loss should be distributed according to the 
amount of loss on each commodity as shown in the ledger accounts. 
Other losses and charges, which will include such losses as uncollected 
claims against railroads for leakage in transit, therefore, will be 
directly chargeable against the kind of grain or merchandise upon 
which the loss occurred. 
After having prorated the above charges, addition should be made 
of these amounts to the net expense, and this will give the total cost 
of operation. The total cost of operation being 100 per cent, the per 
cent of cost of operation on each kind of grain and merchandise will 
be determined as being the relative percentage of each to the total. 
The net unit cost of operation is determined by dividing the amount 
of costs of operation by the number of bushels handled in the case of 
grain or by dividing the amount of cost of operation by the value 
of the goods sold when determining the net unit cost of operation for 
merchandise. The net unit cost of operation would be in terms of 
cents and decimals of a cent per bushel on grain, and in the case of 
sales of coal and other merchandise, it would be represented by a cer- 
tain percentage, as, for instance, 6 per cent of the gross sales. 
BALANCING CASH WITH THE BANK. 
To determine the correctness of the cash transactions for the 
month the following method will be found simple and adequate: 
(1) Determine whether the "bank deposits" column agrees with 
the bank pass book as to individual deposits. Be sure that it is cor- 
rectly footed. 
(2) Sort the returned vouchers, arranging them consecutively. 
Compare them with the entries in the "bank withdrawals" column 
and ascertain which, if any, are missing. List the numbers and 
amounts of all outstanding checks for the next month's reference. 
Outstanding checks may be listed either on an adding-machine tape 
