The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1922-01-13
FARM ACCOUNTING
BY HARRY c. LANE
OF the Accounting Firm of Lane.
Bell & Gill. Spokane.

(This is the third of series of al
ticles on Proper Accounting Methods
for the Farm" written by Harry c
Lane, of the Accounting firm of Lane
Bell & Gill of Spokane. The fourth
article will appear in an early issue,
In the last issue described the
Balance Sheet and we are now read,
for opening our set Of books. "Oul
foundation has been laid; we are 60
ing to start on the part we live In
The first question that naturally
arises is Just what books are neces
sary and what are the trading &C
counts to be opened. This will, OF
course, depend on what information
you will expect to get from your books
and on how much detail you are will
ing to go into in order to get the de-
sired information. The proper pro
cedure then, is for you to determine
and decide definitely just what you
want to know about your business !;
arrange your system of accounts &c
cordingly, and then see that the ac-
counts are properly kept SO that this
information will be forthcoming reg
ularly.
Let us assume, for the purpose of
getting our set of books opened, that
you are the owner of a forty-acre tract
Of land in the Spokane Valley. You
have taken a physical inventory and
I, have your Balance Sheet all prepared
in accordance with our previous Illus
tration Your business consists of OPP
Grating a small dairy herd of fifteen
head; you have ten acres of the land
in a commercial apple orchard and
three acres in commercial cherry or
chard. You also have few head OF
Duroc Jersey hogs, and several hun
dred White Leghorn chickens. For
fear that you haven't enough to keep
you busy let us also assume that you
have two acres used for truck gar
dening. You will probably have to
hire some labor to help with this d.
versified farm but that is what we
want as our sample set of books
should cover any contingency. The
remainder of your farm, aside from
the part used for the dwelling house,
dairy barn, and other buildings, is
used for raising hay and grain which
may be marketed or used for feeding
just as conditions warrant.
You want your books to tell you
what each department Of this farm is
doing toward making living for it.
self, and if you can satisfy yourself
that certain departments are not on
productive basis, you will either want
to eliminate them or use different
methods which will make them pro-
ductive.
1t will be necessary then to open.
trading accounts for each department
of your farm and arrange a classified
ton of expenses and income under
each department. The following classi-
fication will answer In. most cases:
DAIRY DEPARTMENT
INCOME:
Milk sales.
Milk-Home consumption.
Dairy stock sales.
Incidental income.
EXPENSES:
Labor
Feed purchased
4 Feed produced.
y Veterinary.
Hauling and transportation.
Proportion of fixed charges (depre.
citation, interest, taxes).
Incidentals.
APPLE ORCHARD
INCOME:
Apples sold.
Apples-Home consumption.
EXPENSES,
Labor.
Irrigation.
Fertilizer
Spraying material
Boxes and paper.
Hauling and 'transportation!
Incidentals.
CHERRY ORCHARD
Same classification as the Apple Or
chard may be used.
puRoc JERSEY HOGS
INCOME:
Hogs sold
Hogs-Butchered for home use.
Hogs produced (this item may be
taken up with the arrival of each
litter or may be considered thru
the inventory.
EXPENSES:
Labor.
Feed purchased.
Feed produced.
! Veterinary.
Hauling and transportation