Ledger folio. 204. THE DAY-BOOK. Charles W. Choate, April 1, 1849. Salem, April 1, 1849. William Perkins, *1 To 5 bush. corn, @ 60 cts., Henry Stevens, 2 To 3 barrels apples, @ $2, 3d. 6 00 " 4 days' work, by myself, boy and team, 22 00 2800 (2 yoke of oxen and plough,) 5th. Henry Stevens, 2 By 1 bbl. flour, 11 00 "sundry other articles from store, as per bill,† William Perkins, 14th. 1 By 4 days' work shingling barn, himself and appren- tice, for apprentice, 12 | By sundry articles from the store, as per bill, 10/50 * When an account is posted, some mark is placed in the margin, to indicate that it has been posted. In recording accounts in which the person traded with is Dr., each item should be stated particularly. In Cr. accounts this is not always necessary. Salem, April 23, 1849. Joseph Thatcher, 2 To 3 calves, weighing 75, 90, and 95 lb., @ 5 cts., 2 By sundry charges the past month, as per bill, May 1. Frederick Anderson, 2 To Cash to balance his account, 19 90 205. REMARKS ON THE LEDGER AND POSTING. In the Ledger, the debits and credits of each individual are sometimes placed on two pages of the Ledger, facing each other, and sometimes on opposite sides of the same page. Either a whole page, or a part of a page, may be appropriated to each account. The name of the person with whom the account is kept should be written in large letters at the top of the account. Transferring an account from the Day-book to the Ledger is called posting it. There should be a column on the left of each page, for the date, and three columns on the right, -one for the page of the Daybook, and the other two for dollars and cents. When several articles are entered at the same place in the Daybook, they need not be specified in the Ledger, but be posted under the general name of "Sundries." The difference between the Dr. and Cr. side of an account is called the balance. In transferring an account to a new page in the Ledger, or to a new Ledger, this balance is debited in the old account and credited in the new, as in William Perkins' account, below, or credited in the old account and debited in the new, as in Joseph Thatcher's account, on the next page. Apr. 6. To hay, 2450 lb., . 114 70 Apr.30 By sundries, . 18. sundries, . 1849. To bal.trans.fr'm May 1. 2 875 123 25 May 1 bal. trans. to 2 29 20 37 95 REMARK. When a page in the Ledger is filled, either the balance may be transferred to a new page, as remarked on the preceding page, or the Dr. and Cr. columns may be added up, and the amount of each transferred to the corresponding column of a new page. Persons whose business is small find it more convenient to copy every charge in full into the Ledger, than to abridge them as in the above examples, for the reason that it is so much easier to draw off a person's account from the Ledger when the charges are posted in this way, than to turn to the Day-book for every separate item in the account. 207. CASH ACCOUNT. The Cash-book, or Cash Account, has been spoken of as an important auxiliary to the Day-book and Ledger. In this book, all transactions in which cash is either received or paid away, are entered; receipts and money on hand when the account is commenced, being written in the Dr. side of the account, and payments in the Cr.; so that, by adding the debtor and creditor sides of the account, the difference will always show, if there has been no mistake or omission, the amount of cash on hand, and the correctness of the account may be tested by actually counting the money. The following will illustrate the Cash Account. It may be ruled as the Ledger is ruled, with the exception of the columns for the page of the Day-book, which, in single entry, are not needed. 208. It is sometimes desirable to keep an account of the expenses and income of some particular interest, such as a house that is let, a lot of land, the dairy, &c. Farmers' sons, and daughters too, would find it a pleasant and useful exercise to keep such an account with some particular field or garden, a crop of corn, potatoes, &c., and in this way be able at any time to compare the whole expense of labor, &c., laid out upon it, with the income. Such accounts may be kept by making particular and daily entries of every item, or by making one entry at the close of each week. The following may serve as a model. 209. The following is the form of keeping accounts usually adopted by farmers, mechanics, and others whose business is limited. By this method the Ledger form only is used, the Day-book being dispensed with. Make a Day-book and Ledger of your own, and show how James Sullivan, of Salem, should prepare his books and keep his accounts, both by single entry, (204,) and by the form Art. 209, beginning Apr. 1, 1849, if he sells to Stephen Lummus, Apr. 3, 2 bush. of potatoes, at 75 cts. a bushel, 10 pounds of cheese, at 8 cents a pound, and 2 bushels of rye, at 75 cents a bushel; sells to James Roberts, Apr. 5, 15 bushels of oats, at 40 cents, and 12 bushels of corn, at 70 cents, and buys of him 1 lb. of tea, at 50 cts., 10 lb. of coffee, at 12 cts., 2 lb. of cocoa, at 15 cts., and 10 gallons of molasses, at 27 cts. ; works 3 days, himself and team, Apr. 10, 11 and 12, for Simeon Patterson, at $2.25 per day; receives, Apr. 12, of James Roberts, $5 in cash; sells William Stevens 2 calves, at $3 each; employs Joseph Smith, Apr. 16 and 17, to repair his barn, at $1.50 per day; buys of Stephen Lummus, Apr. 16, 500 feet of boards, at $18 per thousand feet, and one half a thousand of shingles, at $2.25 per thousand; and of James Roberts, 20 lb. nails, at 7 cts., 10 lb. sugar, at 8 cts.; and of William Stevens, 6 lb. of veal, at 8 cts.; sells Stephen Lummus, Apr. 21, 1350 lb. of hay, at 60 cts. per hundred; Apr. 23, has employed Richard Williams one month, at $12 per month; pays Richard Williams, Apr. 24, cash, $5; buys of William Stevens, Apr. 26, 1 cow, for $30; sells Stephen Lummus, Apr. 29, 20 lb. salt pork, at 10 cts. per lb.; to Joseph Smith, 3 bushels of potatoes, at 75 cents per bushel, and 3 lb. of butter, at 21 cents per lb.; pays William Stevens, Apr. 30, cash, $20; employs Simeon Patterson to repair his plough, $1.25, and to shoe his oxen, $1.50; May 1, settles with William Stevens, and with Joseph Smith, receiving or paying cash for the balance due. |