486 OFFICE WORK OF A GARRISON BATTERY. 
Battery Books. 
The chief books that a battery has to keep are as follows 
A Rough Scribbling Diary for the Year . 
1. This always remains on the office table, and is useful for noting in 
advance the dates on which any special returns, &c., are due. Thus, on 
1st January, Gunner Bobinson applies for his discharge; an entry is at once 
made in the diary, under date 31st January, “ Send in application for 
discharge, No. 41, Gunner James Bobinson. - ” 
The Battery Cash and Balance Booh . 
2. A form for this book is given in App. A. The form for the monthly 
balance sheet is given in App. B. The cash book is a record of all cash 
transactions of the battery, recorded at the time of the payment, or of the 
receipt, and always bearing the real date of the transaction. Thus, in the 
form given, the first instalment of the sum due from the Paymaster-General 
for the month of Pebruary reached the Major on 29th January, and is 
therefore included in the January cash account. So, also, it will be seen 
that a good many of the bills due for December were not paid till January. 
Thus, the canteen bills for the last week in December only reached the Major 
on 1st January; they were paid on 2nd January, and therefore came into that 
month's transactions. In other words, the cash book is so kept that, if 
balanced at any moment, it shows the exact state of the cash in hand at that 
moment, without any reference to what month the items refer to. 
3. I find it objected to this sytem that it is only good for trained ac¬ 
countants ; and that it is simpler to keep the cash accounts for each month 
separate, so that a debt due in December, but not paid till April, would still 
appear in December's cash account. I think this objection is obviously 
wrong; it entails keeping the cash accounts of one month open till long 
after the succeeding month's account is begun, and it makes it difficult to 
tell at any moment what cash is in hand. The system I advocate has the 
great advantage of being in exact accordance with the facts. The most 
inexperienced man can be expected to put his actual transactions down in 
regular order. He has only to say to himself, “ I got £17 0 on 29th January; 
down it goes on that date." Surely this is simpler than to say “ I got 
£170 on 29th January, but I must not put it down then, I must keep it till 
the Pebruary cash account is open." Under which system is an inex¬ 
perienced locum tenens most likely to go wrong ? 
4. Each entry should be complete in itself, as far as possible, so that 
it may be understood if referred to years afterwards. Thus, a payment 
entry:—“ Gunner Smith, cash £2 10 0 " is a bad entry. “No. 1472, 
Gunner James Smith, cash balance of December 1878 account £2 10 0," is a 
good entry. The payment in App. A., to Officer Comdg. 6/22 B.A., dated 
8th January, is obviously better for reference than if it had been put thus :— 
“ Officer Comdg. 6 Battery, 22nd Brigade. Balance of debts and credits of 
