481

BOOK-K E EPTN G.

boards, and then set to dry. Afterwards it is washed over with alittle paste-and water, and then sprinkled with a tine brn.'h, unlessit should be marbled ; when the spots are to be made larger by-mixing the ink with vitriol. After this tile book is glazed twice

! with the white of an egg beaten, and at last polished with a po-j fishing iron passed hot over the glazed cover.

I BOOKISH, g ven to books; acquainted only with books,j It is generally used contemptuously.

BOOK-KEEPER, one who keeps the accounts of another.

BOOK-KEEPING.

BOOK-KEEPING, [from book and keep,'] the art of keep-ing accounts, or recording pecuniary transactions, in such a man-ner, that at any time a man may thereby know the true state ofthe whole, or any part, of his allairs, with clearness and expedi-dition. A merchant’s books-should contain every particularwhich relates to hi* affairs. They' should exhibit the state of hisbusiness, the connection of Ih : different parts, the amount andsuccess of the whole. They should be so arranged, as to affordready information in every point for which they may be consulted.The matter they should contain is comprehended under the fol-lowing heads: I. The debts owing to the owner, and the debtshe owes to others. II. The articles of property which belongedto him; the quantity and value sold, or otherwise disposed of ;and the quantity and value which still remain in his possession.III. The amount of his stock when the books were opened ; theprofits he has obtained, and the losses he has suffered, since ; andthe amount of his stock at present. That method of book-keep-ing which answ'ers these purposes most clearly and concisely, isthe best. The Italian Method/ by double entry, is gene-rally preferred; at least, it is founded upon the most universalprinciples, and is the most convenient in extensive and compli-cated business : and thf accountant who understands it, will findlittle difficulty in following, or even in inventing other methodsthat are better accommodated to any particular purpose.

Book-keeping by double entry, or by the Italian Method.

The Italian method requires three principal books, viz. theW aste-Book, Journal, and Ledger .

Of the Waste-Book.

The waste-book, or day-book, contains an exact register of alloccurrences in business in'the same order as they take place. Itbegins with an inventory of everything belonging to the owner,a list of the debts due to him, and'of the debts he owes to others:it is carried on with a full relation of all the money he receives orpays; of all the goods lie buys or sells; and of every other oc-currence in his business. Each article should be entered as softnas the transaction takes place, and should be clearly expressed inthe plainest language. It should require no supply from the ac-countant’s memory, but should be fully intelligible to any person,however unacquainted .with the business; at the same lime, itshould be written with all convenient brevity; and, therefore,sometimes refers to invoices and other accounts, for particulars.The accountant’s fir-.t care should be to have nothing defective orambiguous; his second, to have nothing superfluous. The dateis written in text on the top of each page. The articles are sepa-rated from each other by a line ; and the transactions of one dayare separated from those of another by a double line, in the mid-dle of which there is a blank space for inserting the day of themonth. This book must be kept with the greater care and accu-racy, as it contains the mutenaE from which the other books arecomposed. Besides, it is the book whose .authority is trusted to,and which must be exhibited to judges,, or arbitrators, when anaccount is disputed. As the journal is tilled up from the waste-book, the authority-of the latter is esteemed more authentic, un-less there be an. obvious mistake through hurry; and either ofthese books is depended .on rather than the ledger, which, fromits form, is more liable to error, and may be more easily vitiatedby a fraudulent design. As the waste-bock contains, the wholesubdance of the business, it may be applied so as to afford any.information that can be wanted: but the labor of comulting itwould be very great, and mu ell exposed to the risk of omissions.

VOL. I.—NO. 31 .

To prevent this inconvenience, the ledger is used, in which thqarticles are arranged in a methodical order.

Of the Journal.

The Journal is the book in which the transactions recorded inthe waste-book are prepared to be carried to the ledger, by havingtheir proper debtors and creditors ascertained and poiuted out;whence it may be observed that the great design of the journal isto prevent errors in the ledger: again, after the ledger is filled up,the journal facilitates the work required in revising and correct-ing it; for first, the waste-book and journal are compared, andthen the journal and ledger ; whereas to revise the ledger imme-diately from the wa^te-book, would be a matter of no less difficultythan to form it without the help of a journal: lastly, the journal isdesigned as a fair record of a merchant’s business, for neither ofthe other two books can serve this purpose; not the ledger, byreason of the order that obtains in it, and also on account of itsbrevity, being little more than a large index: nor can the waste-book answer th K design, as it can neither be fair nor uniform, beiinrcommonly .written h: the hdrry of business. In the journal, pe£sons and things are charged\debtors to other persons and things ascreditors; and in this it agrees with the ledger, where the samej style is used, but differs from it as to forms and order ; on thei other hand it agrees with the waste-book in the form or manner ofruling and dating, and in the order of. succession of the accounts;but diliers from it by having the debtors and creditors of all ac-counts specified. (Jn the' right-hand margins of each folio orpage, of the journal and waste-book, are ruled three columns forpounds, shillings, and pence; and on the left-hand margins, a co-lumn to receive the figures expressing the folios and pages wherethe same accounts are entered in the succeeding book, viz. in thewaste-book margin are set the corresponding journal pages; and: in the journal margin, the ledger pages. In making the journal! entries, great care is required to ascertain the proper D'rs. and! Crs. in the several accounts, and on this the regularity of theJ whole chiefly depends. The accountant may.attain facility andj accuracy by a strict attention to the two following comprehensiveI rules, and their various modifications:

1. Everything received, or the receiver, or person account-able to us, is Dr.

2. Every thing delivered, or the deliverer, or person to whom

■ we are accountable, is Cr. '

I Since tiiat person or tiling to whom or to which we deliver anv| thing is accountable to us for the value; and since we mai be pro’-| periy considered as accountable to that person or thing from whom-| cr from which we have, or take any thing; the above importantj rules may be expressed thus:

1. Whatsoever person or thing is properly considered 1 as ac-countable to us, is Dr.

2. Whatsoever person or thing we are properly considered asaccountable to, is Cr.

It is to be observed, that in cases where there are no persons, 'or tilings to be accountable to us, or to which we are to" be ac-countable, the place is to be supplied by some appropriate ficti-tious title. Thus since there is nothing real, iii way-of tradif tow hich we are accountable lor (he several articles ofotir propertywe supply the defect by the title stock, which we also make ac-countable to us for what we. owe. And thus again : if we sendgoods to one, who has m t ordered them, he is not accountableand the matter is in suspence, therefore we make suspence ac-count answerable for the.goods. Besides these general rules thefollowing directions and observations are. to be-'attended to. Thearticles of the waste-book are to be entered, one bv one, in the^ journal,