1 8       Four  Things  Every  Drtiggist  Should  Know.     {A  j^SSyfisoT.1"* 
Now  it  is  of  course  readily  seen  how  the  four  things  which  I  have 
declared  to  be  essential  can  be  learned  from  the  foregoing  records, 
(i)  The  percentage  expense  is  gotten  by  dividing  the  annual  ex- 
penses by  the  annual  sales.  (2)  The  percentage  of  gross  profit  is 
gotten  by  dividing  the  annual  gross  profits  by  the  annual  sales. 
(3)  The  necessary  facts  regarding  the  success  or  failure  of  certain 
departments  are  gleaned  from  the  department  records,  concerning 
which  I  mean  to  say  more  in  detail  later  on.  (4)  The  total  annual 
income  is  obtained  by  adding  the  proprietor's  salary  to  the  net 
profits  of  the  business. 
DETAILS  OF  THE  METHOD. 
How  are  these  records  of  sales,  purchases,  expenses  and  so  on  to 
be  kept  ?  I  shall  not  outline  any  hard  and  fast  method.  Each 
druggist  may  devise  a  plan  which  seems  to  him  best  and  which  fits 
most  harmoniously  into  his  bookkeeping  system. 
The  simplest  way  would  be  to  use  a  plain  ruled  book,  make 
upright  columns  for  the  several  sets  of  figures  with  the  exception  of 
the  inventory,  and  devote  each  horizontal  line  to  one  day's  record, 
having  the  date  in  the  first  column  at  the  left.  The  columns  at  the 
end  for  the  department  statistics  should  have  each  two  spaces,  thus 
providing  for  both  sales  and  purchases.  The  book  would  then  look 
something  like  this,  subject  to  such  modifications  as  each  druggist 
might  find  desirable : 
p  Date. 
Sales. 
Purchase. 
Expenses. 
Cigars. 
Soda. 
Candy. 
Cash 
Cr. 
Total 
Self 
Clerk 
Misc. 
Sales 
Purch. 
Sales 
Purch. 
Sales 
Purch. 
Jan.  2 
Jan.  3 
As  for  the  original  entries,  these  could  be  treated  exactly  as  you 
treat  charges  or  credits  for  or  against  customers.  Make  them  in  a 
day-book  it  you  use  a  day-book;  put  them  on  slips  if  you  use  slips. 
Every  time  you  buy  a  bill  of  goods,  or  pay  out  money  for  an 
expense,  or  figure  up  the  day's  sales,  or  do  anything  else  falling 
