SELF-SERVING IN RETAILING FOOD PRODUCTS. 45 
without regard to whether the payment is made before, during, or 
after the period during which the operation is carried on. 
Changes in retail prices are recorded on a form similar to Form 2, 
" Stock Control Adjustment — A." A new copy of the form can be 
used each day, or the same one used until it is filled. The manager 
or proprietor should fill out the first five columns — Date, Description 
of Article, Unit, Old Price, and New Price — for each article on which 
a change in price is made. The form should be used as the authoriza- 
tion for the price change itself to make sure that it will be properly 
filled out. After the above entries have been made by the proprietor 
for all articles on which he wishes a price changed, the form should 
be given to the stockman, who makes the actual price change on 
the merchandise itself. At the time of making this change he should 
count the number of articles, both on display and in the stock room, 
and enter the number on the proper line under " Inventory." After 
this has been done the sheet should go to the cashiers and checkers 
in order that they may become acquainted with the new prices. If 
desired, each of these employees should be requested to sign his 
name on the back of the sheet to show that he has been informed as 
to the changes. 
If this system is used in connection with a chain-store organization 
it might be well to leave the " old price " blank and have the mana- 
gers of the branch stores fill this in as they make the changes. This 
would inform the central office as to whether the managers had been 
getting the proper price. 
When the form has been returned to the office the unit change in 
price should be entered in the proper column under " Change in 
price." This should then be multiplied by the inventory and the 
product entered in the proper column under " Change in stock con- 
trol." In order that the procedure may be more readily understood, 
the following examples are given : One showing an advance in price 
and the other a decrease in price. The information is given as it 
would appear on Form 2, reading from left to right. 
(1) July 2, Blend A coffee, 1 pound, old price 35 cents, new price 
38 cents, 53 pounds. Under " Change in price," 3 cents would be en- 
tered in the " Up " column. This, multiplied by the inventory, should 
give $1.59, which should be entered under " Change in stock control " 
in the " debit " column. The reason for this is that the 53 pounds 
had been charged in at only 35 cents per pound but is to be sold at 
38 cents per pound ; and, therefore, the charges to the stock-control 
merchandise account, in order that the latter may correspond with 
the sales account, should be increased by this difference, or $1.59. 
(2) July 3, Jonathan apples, 1 pound, old price 7 cents, new price 
5 cents, 136 pounds. Under " Change in price," 2 cents would be 
entered in the " Down " column. This, multiplied by the inventory, 
