KEEPING ACCOUNTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 36, 11 August 1933, Page 13

KEEPING ACCOUNTS

1 If anything can improve tho staml|ing of the poultry industry in Now , Zealand, tho proper keeping of accounts ■will do jjq'iuorfl than anything else jFor every person keeping fowls profitably 'there must be several who keep I them at a. loss, usually totally unaware 'of the fact. Granted-thut many houseI holders keep a few fowls to eat the scraps and to supply the desirablo fresh egg for breakfast, but some might more profitably purchase their eggs from a reliable source. The whole-tiino poultrymau will h'avo a proper set of books which, with a yearly stocktaking, will show liiiv- Ms true position. A fpw, but not enough, have these books audited in the same manner as a general merchant, with a view to check* ing possible losses' in certain directions. The auditor who pokes his nose into every deal, and who makes : out column , after column of figures, may prove a .very useful • fellow provided his advice bo followed. But with smaller flocks, kept as a side line to other stock, the keeping of accounts is more arducus, and charges must bo made, for a proportion of rent) taxes, rates, and so on if a true position is to be arrived at in the balance. Usually the profits from a few fowls seem very encouraging, so much so that-the novice is often led into increasing Ms flock on the argument that ten times as many will givo ten times the profit. If you do not keep any accounts, start right away; obtain an' exercise .book, rule out columns for costs and returns, and make a balance each month. You will be surprised at. the information gleaned from doing.so. .