180

Ja Ashes P. Francis due Mar 385 8 11

your bill on.

Kay...26Apr 400

Mash rec from H. Watt.

200

Blake on Lees.... due 22 June 150 10 28 Forbes on Mills...18July 250 eturn of Rem. on £6.50...

Mt MW. C. V Fanny

Net Proceces of 2013ales

610

Ju

tton p Fanny due 23 Sept: 70219 5

rd

8 197

Errors Excepted London 30 June 1869 30 June 1809 (20148

Account in Ledger C: Page 156

gross amount of the goods; and the difference betwixt this sum and £. 23 11s. the amount of charges, is the Net-Proceeds, or what is due to the Employer.

The form of making out an Account Sales is various. Some enter the charges on the first or left hand page; and the quantity, price, and value of the goods, on the second or right hand page, in the manner of Dr. and Cr. The difference then of the two sides exhibits the Net-Proceeds. Others rule the Account with a number of columns for the particulars; as the date of the sale, the purchaser's name, the quantity and quality, the price, and the value of the goods; but though the forms are different, all tend to the same object, that of ascertaining the Net Proceeds.

When an Agent guarantees the debt, it is neither usual nor necessary for him to mention the names of the purchasers, in the Account Sales which he sends to his correspondent; for in that case, it is a matter of indifference to his Employer to whom the Goods are sold; besides, it unnecessarily lays open his business to his employer. Vide Engraved Specimen.

If the Goods be sold on credit, and the debts at the risk of the Proprietor, the Agent, in rendering an Account Sales, should be careful to insert the clause, Bad debts Excepted, in the docket; otherwise, in strictness, he becomes accountable for the same; but if the Agent takes the risk of recovering the debts, and charges an extra commis. sion for doing so, or if the goods be sold for cash, that clause is not inserted.

The duty of an Agent is to procure the best intelligence of the state of Trade at the place where he resides; of the quantity and quality of Goods in the market; their present prices, and the probability of their rising or falling; to pay exact obedience to the orders of his Employers; to consult their advantage in matters referred to his discretion; to execute their business with all the dispatch that circumstances admit; to be early in his intelligence, distinct and correct in his Ao counts, and punctual in his correspondence.

VII. ACCOUNTS CURRENT.

AN ACCOUNT CURRENT contains the state of our transactions with any person, drawn out in a plain circumstantial manner, disposed in the form of Dr. and Cr. on opposite pages.

It requires a knowledge of the principles of Book-keeping to un. derstand fully the nature of an Account-Current. We have only to notice at present, that in making out this Account, all the particulars are set forth as expressed in the Journal, and Subsidiary books, and

where the collective term Sundries occurs in the Ledger, every re.. ference is supplied.

In calculating Interest on Accounts Current, the usual method is to compute the Interest, first on the sums of the Dr. side, and then on those of the Cr.; reckoning the time from the day on which the Sums became due, to the time of settlement. We then subtract the Sum of the interest on the one side from that of the other, and the difference. 8: 19: 7, being on the Dr. side, is the interest due by Richard Conder. Vide Engraved Specimen.

By this second Method we multiply the Sums by the respective number of days, reckoning the time as formerly, and extend the products of the Dr. side in one column, and those of the Cr. in the other. The difference 65554, when divided by 7300, gives the interest as before.*

Of these two methods of calculating interest on Accounts-Current, we prefer the second, because it is more expeditious, the interest being calculated only on the difference of the products, which reduces the whole to one division.

Men of business, who follow the first method of computing interest, generally use Interest Tables: the want of expertness in calculation may require such helps; but we would not recommend to young people the assistance of Tables of any kind, excepting those of Compound Interest and Annuities. Those who have the resolution to reject Tables of Calculation, soon acquire a facility in figuring, which seems almostincredible to those who have not made the experiment; and this facility will not be confined to the calculation of interest alone, but will extend itself to every other branch of Business.

* In setting down the products, the Shillings in the product are neglected when be. low ten, and one is added to the pounds, when they amount to ten or upwards.

BOOK-KEEPING, BY SINGLE ENTRY.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES.

BOOK-KEEPING is the art of recording the transactions of

Persons in Business, in such a manner as to exhibit a distinct view of the State of their affairs.

The mode of keeping Books may be varied according to the peculiar nature of the Business; but there are, properly speaking, only two methods, which differ materially from each other; namely, Book-keeping by Single Entry and by Double Entry.

Single Entry is the most simple and concise method, but it is imperfect, as it contains personal accounts only. The Ledger, kept on this plan, affords to the owner a knowledge of what debts are due to him, and of what he owes to others, but it exhibits no account of the quantities of Goods bought and sold, nor of the Stock in hand. This mode of keeping Books is best adapted to Retail business, in which the articles sold are small and nume

rous.

The principal Books used by Shop-keepers, are a DAY-BOOK, and a LEDGER,* the forms of which are exhibited in the following specimens, pages 5 and 10.

The DAY-BOOK, records every transaction by which new Debts are contracted, or former ones discharged. The entries may be made either in the style of Dr. and Cr. as Joseph Crosby, Cr. George Bernard, Dr. as in the specimen first page; or in common language, as Bought of Joseph Crosby, and Sold George Bernard.

The following Rule will direct the Learner in distinguishing Dr. and Cr. in any transaction.

The Person who receives any thing is Dr. and the Person who gives or delivers any thing is Cr.

✦ Besides the above two Books, a CASH-BOOK is generally kept for entering money received and paid; and in order that the Cash on hand may be checked as often as necessary. A specimen of this Book is given pages 16 and 17.

When Bill transactions are frequent, a Book of Bills Receivable and Payable will also be necessary for entering Bills Received and Accepted. When these are negociated or paid, the persons concerned are then debited to, or credited by Cash from the Day-book.

B