STATEMENTS OF CUSTOMERS' ACCOUNTS. An important feature of any bookkeeper's work is that attention to customers' accounts which insures prompt payment of bills as they fall due. In order to call the attention of customers to the fact that payment is desired, many business houses send a statement whenever a bill is due; e. g., if John Smith & Co. bought merchandise billed at $165, Jan. 10th, at ten days, then on Jan. 20th, or perhaps a day or two later, a statement like the following would be sent him. In the ordinary course of business, however, it is a more common practice to send each customer, at the first of the month, a statement showing the debit balance of his account up to date, whether this balance is due or not, thus calling his attention to his indebtedness and enabling him to compare the statement with your account in his ledger, and note any difference which may appear between his books and your own. A competent bookkeeper will have his statements ready to send out the first of the month as most of them can be prepared considerably in advance of that date. Customers' statements are prepared entirely from the ledger accounts of customers, and of course the posting must be completed before the statements can be made out. You may now prepare statements of accounts for all customers who owe you a balance. Turn to Chas. È. Hayes' account in your ledger, and from that account prepare a statement like the following form. These are not your debit amounts. Prepare similar statements for all others who owe you a balance. Place them in properly addressed envelopes and hand to your teacher. Present your books to your teacher for inspection, after having carefully examined them yourself to see that all rulings are correct and that page marks, dates and transfer pages have not been omitted. See that all closing entries and rulings in your ledger are in red ink, and that all transfers are in black ink. Do not allow yourself to be careless in these small matters; they are more important than they appear. In your small ledger it is an easy matter to find an account, even if the page mark is not in the journal, but in business where the ledger sometimes has 1000 pages the omission of page marks causes much unnecessary work. APRIL PRICE LIST. I 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 IO II 122 13 1.75 1.80 1.85 1.90 1.95 2.00 1.76 1.81 1.86 1.91 1.96 1.77 1.82 Apples. Oats. Potatoes .28 .32 APRIL PRICE LIST (Continued). 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 233 24 25 1.87 1.92 1.97 1.78 1.83 1.88 1.93 1.98 1.79 1.84 1.89 1.94 .43 .48 .29 3439 44 .49 .30 .35 .40 .45 .50 .33 .43.53 .39 49 .44 .34 .48 .38 .52 .42 .35 4.38 4.33 4.28 4.47 4.42 4.37 4.32 4.27 4.46 4.41 4.36 4.31 .49 .39 .29 .43 33 38 .48 .34 .44 .30 .40 .47 .34 .38 .42 .46 .50 .31 .35 .39 .43 .47 .51 .54 QUESTIONS. I. What is the object of bookkeeping? 2. What is a power of attorney? When is it given? 3. How would you proceed with a bill of merchandise received, before writing O. K. upon it? 4. How would you show that the bill had been carried to the proper accounts? 5. Why should merchandise sold be itemized in the journal? 6. Why is it unnecessary to itemize merchandise purchased? 7. Why should a receipt be taken when cash is paid for any purpose? 8. Is a receipted bill, or a receipt, proof that a bill has been paid? Give your reasons for your answer. 9. How do you find the amount of cash received in making out your reports? 10. How do you find the amount of cash paid out? II. How do you find the amount of cash on hand? 12. How do you find the amount of merchandise sold? 13. What is a bank? 14. Why is it customary for business houses to keep their money in a bank instead of in their own safe? 15. What is necessary to be done before opening an account with a bank? 16. How should a signature be written in the signature book of a bank? 17. What is a deposit ticket? When and how is it prepared? 18. What is a bank pass book, and who makes the entries in this book? 19. Where and when should the depositor make a record of a deposit? 20. Why is no entry required in the journal when a deposit is made in the bank? 21. What should be done with an order for merchandise when it is received? 22. How would you show that the order had been filled, and what would you do with it after it had been filled? 23. Why should orders for merchandise be carefully preserved? 24. What is the meaning of a purchase or a sale on account? 25. When terms are not mentioned on an invoice, what is understood? 26. What is a note? 27. When is a note called a bill receivable, and when a bill payable? 28. Why is a check regarded as cash? 29. Why should it be presented immediately at the bank? 30. Suppose you have a check, how would you proceed to get the money called for by the check if you were unknown at the bank? 31. Why should the stub of a check book be filled out before the check itself is written? 32. What special care should be taken in filling out a check, and what is the consequence of carelessness in this respect in case the check is raised? 33. How is it possible to determine at any time what amount remains to your credit in the bank? 34. When it is necessary to draw a check for private use, in whose name should the check be made out? 35. When cash is checked out for use in the business, to whose order should the check be drawn? 36. Where should the indorsement of a check appear? 37. Define accounts of business. Accounts of finance. 38. What is a customers' ledger? 39. What is the object of checking back postings, and when should it be done? 40. What is an inventory and when is it taken? 41. What prices should be used in taking an inventory? 42. Where are inventories carried in the ledger when that book is to be closed? 43. What is the object of sending statements of accounts to customers, and when is this generally done? 44. How often should a bank book be balanced, and who attends to this work? TEA, COFFEE AND SPICE BUSINESS. Books Kept.--The books which you will keep in this work are the journal-daybook, cash book, sales book and ledger. The Cash Book.-Cash transactions will be numerous in almost any business, and from this fact it has been found advisable to take the Cash account from the ledger and place it in a book called the "Cash Book," which contains on its left-hand page all cash debits, with the name of the account to be credited in the left-hand explanation space, and in the right-hand explanation space a brief description of the transaction. The amount is entered in the left-hand money column. All items of cash paid out or cash credits are entered on the right-hand page of the cash book, with the name of the account to be debited in the left-hand explanation space, and a brief description of the transaction in the right-hand explanation space. The amount is entered in the left-hand money column. Since the debit of the cash book shows all cash received, and the credit all cash paid |