Excerpt from 20th Century Bookkeeping and Accounting: A Treatise on the Principles of Accounting and Bookkeeping Practice Applied by Modern Bookkeepers and Accountants The successful business man should know that a profit will result from the transactions in connection with his business before they are completed. To determine this he should have such information as will show the detailed operating cost, the profit from trading or other operations, the net profit for each fiscal period, its source, and the increase or decrease over previous periods. A report concerning the failure or suspension of a business, accompanied by the statement that the creditors will not know what percentage of their claim may be collected until the experts have audited the books, indicates that the management did not have all the facts available in connection with the business. Such a statement is so common in the newspaper announcement of failures that it suggests a connection between accounting and success. If these conditions are to be improved, it is necessary to teach the correct principles of accounting and the best practice in applying them. The bookkeeping student of today is the bookkeeper or business man of tomorrow. If he has a knowledge of the correct principles, as bookkeeper he will apply them, or, as manager, he will see that they are applied by the bookkeeper. The purpose of this text is to present the correct principles of bookkeeping and accounting, - principles advocated and practiced by modern bookkeepers and accountants. The information upon which it is based was obtained from standard authorities on accounting and from consultations with practicing bookkeepers and accountants. The text is prepared primarily for the student and not for the practicing bookkeeper or accountant. The presentation permits the beginner to master first the simple principles of accounting as applied in a small business. When he understands these, he can then appreciate the more complicated principles of accounting necessary in recording the transactions for a business of extensive operations. A study of the text would result in only a theoretical knowledge of the subject. Practice is necessary in applying the principles. A correct knowledge of the principles is essential, but efficiency in applying this knowledge is of equal importance. The student who has mastered the principles of bookkeeping and accounting should have also acquired accuracy, neatness and speed. For this reason the practice sets require the recording of a number of transactions, - a sufficient number to impress on the student's mind the importance of a correct record and to give him confidence and skill in applying his knowledge of the subject. That the student may learn to recognize a transaction from the paper that represents it in business, he is required to make his record in the practice sets from reproduced business papers. The transactions, moreover, are practical, and identical with those that occur in business. Applying the correct principles and recording practical transactions represented in the same manner as they are in business, gives the student a knowledge of the subject which will make his services desirable to the business man, and valuable to himself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com