EXCHANGE, OR CONVERSION OF MONEY. Exercises. 127 1. If I pay £12, 10s. for ten head of oxen, how many dollars does each cost me? Ans. 6 dollars each. 2. A tradesman in Paris earns 2 francs 75 centimes per day; how much is that for a year of 313 working-days? Ans. £35, 17s. 3d. 3. A gentleman buys in Paris, books and stationery to the amount of 167 francs; how much is that in British money? Ans. £6, 19s. 2d. 4. I paid 18 francs 50 cents for a pair of boots in Calais, which were said to be worth 25s. in London; how much did I save by buying the boots in France instead of in England? Ans. 9s. 7d. 5. An emigrant to Canada paid for 100 acres of land, £36 currency; for a house, £7 currency; and for clearing 2 acres, £3, 12s. currency; what is the amount in sterling money? Ans. £37, 5s. 7d. 4 6. If the expense of travelling from New York to Cincinnati be $35, 50 cents, what is the expense in sterling money? Ans. £7, 7s. 11d. 7. A farmer in Illinois sows 250 acres of land, at an expense of $1, 75 cents per acre; what does the whole cost in sterling money? Ans. £91, 2s. 11d. 8. If I purchase 1200 acres of land, at the rate of 16s. currency per acre, how much is the whole in sterling money? Ans. £768 NOTE.-With respect to the above, and all other foreign monies, there is usually a premium for or against, in making the exchange, which requires to be taken into account in actual business. Thus, a person taking a sovereign to Paris, may in reality get 25 instead of 24 francs for it, or a premium of 1 franc. In purchasing bills in the colonies drawn on parties in England, a premium is generally exacted according to the demand for such bills; therefore, although £125 currency is equal to £100 sterling, it may happen that the purchaser of a £100 bill on England may have to pay for it £130 or £135. When no premium is exacted, the course of exchange is said to be at par. BOOK-KEEPING AND ACCOUNTS.* BOOK-KEEPING is the art of recording and classifying a merchant's or tradesman's daily transactions, and of keeping an account of his property and debts. A merchant's books ought to exhibit clearly the whole amount of his property, with the particulars of which it is composed; and also the amount of his debts. The following are the most important of the books used in Bookkeeping: - Besides these, a Stock-book, to contain a list of stock on hand: an Accountbook, to contain a list of accounts; and various others, are employed in business. This subject is treated of at length in a separate work on Book-keeping in the Educational Course. DAY-BOOK. The purpose of the Day-Book is to keep a daily account of all goods sold on credit. The names and addresses of the persons to whom they are sold, with a description of the goods and their prices, and any other charges, are entered in the Day-Book, as shewn in the following examples : In the Cash-Book is kept an account of all cash received and paid, and of discount received and allowed. Two pages are always required for the entries: the left-hand page for entering the cash you receive, and the discount 4 James Arnold, London.... Here J. Arnold settles his account by paying £351; the sum of 8 -Jan. 2. Union Bank. (This sum is received by you from the bank.)... 7 James Edwards, Princes Street.... 10 Bills Receivable, No. 1, discounted, £50... BALANCING THE CASH-BOOK.-To ascertain that the BILL-BOOK.-In this book is kept, in one portion, an account of all "Bills Receivable "-that is, bills of which you have to receive payment-and in INVOICE-BOOK. This book is used for keeping an account of all goods bought on credit. It is so called because the entries made in it are copied from the invoices usually sent along with the goods. The names and addresses of the persons from whom they are bought, with a description of the goods and their prices, and any other charges, are entered in the Invoice-Book, as below:-thus, 12 Wrapper and packing.. that is, 9 pieces measuring 180 yards, at 13s. 7d. a yard. -20th. John Miller, Edinburgh. By Goods, as per Invoice, January 19.... In practice, instead of copying the particulars of the invoices, it CASH-BOOK. 33 15 6 allowed by you; the right-hand page for the cash you pay, and the discount allowed to you. Each page is ruled with double money columns; the inner columns being used for the discount, the outer for the cash. The cash on hand is noted every day as above; but the sum is not 1059 1 6 another portion, "Bills Payable"-that is, bills which you have to pay when they become due. In the Ledger is contained an abstract of all the entries made in the other books. The entries dispersed throughout the Day-Book, Invoice-Book, Cash-Book, and Bill-Book, are collected together in the Ledger, and arranged in the order of their dates, under the names of the various persons to whom they belong. A page, or such portion of a page as is likely to be required, is assigned to every person's account; and each page being ruled with Dr. and Cr. columns, the amounts of all the Dr. entries belonging to each person, are copied one by one into the Dr. sides, and the amounts of all the Cr. entries into the Cr. sides, of the respective accounts in the Ledger. An index is made of all the names entered. The copying of these entries into the Ledger is termed posting. The pages in the Ledger to which they are posted are marked on the margin opposite the various entries in the different books. The entries of goods on the Dr. side are posted from the Day-Book, and on the Cr. side from the Invoice-Book. The entries of cash and bills are posted from the Cash and Bill-Books. The following is a form of the Ledger often used by retail dealers, in which the Dr. and Cr. money columns are placed together, instead of on the opposite sides of each page, as in the Ledger above. The object of this is to give more space for writing the particulars of the entries: BALANCE SHEET.-To ascertain the state of affairs at the end of the year, or at any other convenient time, it is necessary to draw out a " Balance Sheet"--that is, a statement shewing how much is owing to you, and by you; also the amount of cash, bills, and stock on hand, and what is the balance, if any, in your favour. BALANCE SHEET OF JOHN ADAMS. Dr. Cr. PROFIT. To ascertain the profit, if any, that has been gained during the year, open an account under the head of " Profit," or "Profit and Loss," and enter as follows: The nett profit is shewn above, after paying trade expenses, &c. the nett profit the amount of expenses and bad debts, the gross ascertained; thus: Nett Profit... Trade Expenses, £100. Bad Debts, £50, as per Ledger.. Gross profits.... ACCOUNTS. 1400 0 0 By adding to profit will be £350 0 0 150 0 0 500 0 AN ACCOUNT is a statement shewing the amount due by one person to another for goods, cash, &c. Accounts are kept under their several titles in the Ledger, from which they are copied when required. In rendering this account, it is unnecessary to give the particulars of the entries. When the goods were forwarded, invoices, containing the particulars, were either sent along with the goods, or separately by post; and in making out the account, only the dates and sums require to be stated. |