I 22 
park: and cemetery. 
Cemetery Accounting. — II, 
As intimated in the last issue the following 
paper which was read at the Fifth Annual Conven- 
tion of the Association of American Cemetery Su- 
perintendents, held in Chicago in September, 1891, 
will be found, while concise, quite comprehensive. 
It was read by Mr. F. D Willis, Secretary, Oak- 
land Cemetery, St. Paul, Minn.: 
It is a fair presumption that cemetery officials 
are not all expert accountants; and it is fair to pre- 
sume that every association desires to keep its ac- 
counts that any lot owner may be able to under- 
stand the condition of its affairs. 
Its income should be kept so as to show under 
proper heads from what source it is derived; and its 
expenditures should be classified and subdivided in 
such a manner, as that the trustees and executive 
officers may by care and watchfulness be enabled 
to practice true economy in administering its bus- 
iness. 
To do this, data must be furnished showing, as 
near as may be, how the expenditures compare with 
the receipts from the various sources of revenue. 
While this cannot be arrived at with absolute ex- 
actness, it can be done so as to make a showing ap- 
proximately correct, — near enough to serve a use- 
ful purpose. 
The experience of the larger associations will 
bear out the assertion, that detailed monthly re- 
ports should be made to the trustees by the treas- 
urer and the superintendent. The lot owner or in- 
tending purchaser, should first arrange with the su- 
perintendent, and should take from him a memoran- 
dum to the treasurer, who, having received the 
money therefor, should issue his orders to the su- 
perintendent by series and numbered, showing sales 
made, or service to be performed, with the amount 
paid stated thereon; and these orders should ac- 
company the detailed report of the superintendent 
to the trustees, as his warrant for what he has done. 
Mence it will be seen that the treasurer’s and 
superintendent’s reports will check one against the 
other. 
The principal sources of revenue may be classi- 
fied as follows: 
Sales of Lots. 
“ “ Single Graves. 
“ “ Flowers. 
Fees for Interments. 
“ ‘‘ Receiving Tomb. 
“ “ Mortuary Chapel. 
Charges for Foundations. 
“ “ Miscellaneous Labor. 
“ “ Annual Lot Care. 
Income from Investments for Permanent Care. 
All disbursements by the treasurer should be 
made upon vouchers, certified by the superintend- 
ent or president to be correct, and for the use and 
.benefit of the Association, aaid distrjliuted to the 
proper accounts; and finally audited by the finance 
committee, or an auditor. 
The monthly expenditures being largely on ac- 
count of the pay roll, the amount should be approx- 
imately sub-divided and charged to the several 
sources of revenue, general expenses and improve- 
ments made upon the grounds. In the case of any 
special improvement, there should be an account 
kept of it until completed, when it may be transfer- 
red to an account which for the want of a better 
term might be called “Specific Improvements.” 
Thus there will be under one title in the state- 
ment of the treasurer, the totalized amount of com- 
pleted expenditures for mortuary chapel, office, 
dwelling, barn, greenhouses, water system, en- 
trance gateway, etc, etc. 
The amount received for permanent care of lots 
should show certain facts, and may be kept as fol- 
lows, viz: 
Permanent Care Fund Principal. 
A credit of total amounts paid in or set apart. 
Permanent Care Fund Invested. 
A debit of total investments owned at par value. 
Permanent Care Fund Premium and Discount. 
The difference between par and purchase price of invest- 
ments. 
Working Fund. 
A debit of expenditures for care and a credit of income 
from investments. 
In this connection it might be said that some 
Associations place all their securities in the direct 
custody of a trust company, the interest coupons be- 
ing turned over by the trust company to the treas- 
urer as they approach maturity; but the securities 
are only withdrawn upon the joint written order of 
the finance committee. This method furnishes as 
nearly absolule security as can well be devised. 
The unsold realty which the association owns 
may be taken up as an asset, appraised at its value 
in acreage for purposes other than a cemetery, and 
at the end of the fiscal year this account credited 
with the number of acres sold, at the price it is car- 
ried on the books, and charged to Lot Sales. This 
would show the profit on sales over acreage value. 
Or, if preferred, the realty could be computed and 
carried as an asset at the prices held for sale by 
the square foot, and the total sales credited at the 
end of the year. The former method seems pre- 
ferable. 
If, the accounts are kept as is advisable by 
double entry system, a monthly transcript from the 
ledger in the form of a trial balance sheet, will 
show the status of the Association. 
In the execution of this sacred trust, undertaken 
by the trustees of most cemeteries as a labor of love, 
or a duty to be performed, everything which helps 
to make things plain to them at their meetings aids 
good management. 
A. printed leaflet of the annual statement of the 
treasurer, in the hands of every lot owner, brings 
the association to their attention, and acquaints 
them rvith its condition; and should secure a great- 
er interest in beautifying this our final resting plac^. 
