Douglas Island news., 1918-11-29
RETAIL MERCHANTS
 KEEP ACCOUNTS
Internal Revenue Commissioner Ad- vises People to Keep Books
 Accurately

dressed Co retail merchants embody- ing some reasons why every retail merchant should keep book accounts. Bureau Of Internal Revenue Wash
 ington, D. c.
 "ro retail morchants
 "Tho revenue act now pending in ! Congress is expected Co produce $S,- 900 100000. This means a tax on Che average of moro than SIG for every man. woman and child in Am erica. The average per family is nearly S3lO.
 In many businesses taxes will be one of Che largest items of expense. |It is of the utmost importance, there fore. that every concern in busln- mess. large or small. whether corpo- ration, partnership, or individual, shall maintain am exact record of its receipts and expenses other words. keep accurate accounts Taxes should Doe considered os am expense of the year for which they arc as- sessed rather than for the year in which they are actually paid and . Che necessary reserves should be pro yidcd for at once.
 Close Check to Be Kept
 Because Of the large amounts to be collected. tho Bureau of Internal ! Revenue win be compelled to check Che incomc-tax returns filed by tax payers more closely than heretofore. Tho retail merchant who is able Co place before Che mtcrnal-revenue in- spcctor book records showing exactly how he arrived at his statement Of ! net income win greatly facilitate the governments tas.. of collecting ! the war revenues and save himself Ionnoyance and expense.
 "No special system of accounts is | prescribed by the Internal Revenue Bureau. but thc books should show lin detail inventories. purchases. sales, capital investments, dcprccio- ton and similar items required in making up che thc income-tax re- ! |turu. Every merchant should study the incomc-tax law and regulations and see Co it that his accounts are Ikcpt in such a manner that it will enable him Go determine his net iu- come for taxation purposes.
 Keeping Systematic Accounts
 Aside from Che necessity of kcop- ling systematic accounts iu order to comply with che governments re- 1uIrcmcuts. every progressive mer- |chant should adopt am approved ac- counting systcmf or thc good Of his own business. In no other way can Inc further his financial interests more effectively It has been proven time and time again that accurate accounts are absolutely essential to success in business. Tho merchant who has good accounting system lis able Co eliminate waste and Unnecessary expense and can SO cou- trol his purchases and his credits as to greatly lessen Che chance of failure. The inventory which can not be taken without some form ot accounts. is tho compass Of a busi- ness. Without it, Che direction in which Che business Is heading either for success or failure can not be de- termined
 In Che complexities of modern bus
 mess costs must be calculated with certainty m order to determine what the selling price of an article should be in order to yield a reasonable profit This is impossible without books of account.
 The profits Of a business or the losses of a business can not be de- tcrmincd without book record; and |now that the Nation requires every citizen to contribute to the war budget within his means and in- come. the returns required by the government under the revenue laws can not be made with any degree Of accuracy without books Of account and annual inventories.
 The Bad Debt Loss
 The bad-debt loss of the nation. which runs into large figures annu- Iamy. is due in large measure to i'm experience and inability 1T mer- chants would keep even Che simplest books Of account tho bad-debt vast age would be reduced materially, for