Accounts may be kept in book form, either bound or loose leaf, or on cards. The simplest method of keeping accounts is one that records merely receipts and expenditures, each in its own column, no entry being made for charged items until payment is made. For this purpose pages like form 1 (page 183) are good, receipts being kept on the left-hand page and expenditures on the right-hand page. A book in which the receipts are kept on the left half of the page and the expenditures on the right half of the same page may be used, but such a book generally does not allow sufficient space for all details of itemization. Some persons like to use a book with two columns at the right-hand side of the page, one column for receipts and one for expenditures, but with this form more care must be taken to enter the figures in the proper column.

Such a record, however, gives merely the total income and expense for any period of time without answering such questions as the amount of bank balance, of cash balance, how much has been paid for food during a certain period, how the expenditure for food compares with that for rent, how much has been spent for medical service, for wages, for recreation, for education, the amount owed, to what extent the family has been supplied with produce from the home farm or garden; or a question of dietetic significance, such as how the expense for meat and similar foods compares with that for fruit and vegetables.

In order to answer such questions, the expenditures must be analyzed. In the type of account shown in form 1 (page 183), such an analysis is difficult, and in a busy household the time is lacking to accomplish it at the end of a month or a year. If, therefore, it is agreed that little satisfaction is to be derived from a mere list of daily expenditures, a type of account that readily gives the desired information must be considered (form 2, pages 184 and 185).

Expenditures may be divided under the headings shelter, food, clothing, and miscellaneous, and as many subdivisions as desired may be used under these headings. Under shelter, for example, there may be rent, heat, light, wages and laundry, furniture and furnishings. In case the house is occupied by the owner, the rent column may be replaced by one in which are recorded such items as repairs, taxes, and insurance. The heading food may be subdivided into meat and eggs, milk and cream, fruits and vegetables, groceries and miscellaneous items. Under the heading clothing may be entered all the expenses for such supplies for the family, or an account may be opened for each individual. Miscellaneous will include such items as education, traveling expenses, medical services, allowances to children, recreation, and benevolence.

In the foregoing types of accounts all cash is entered in the receipts column; therefore, in order to prove the accuracy of the record, the difference between receipts and expenditures must agree with the sum of the bank balance, as shown by the checkbook, and the cash on hand. In the plan outlined in form 2 (pages 184 and 185), the totals of the columns showing the subdivision of expenditures must agree with the total of the expenditures column.

If the number of columns is too large to be accommodated on one page, a separate page of columns may be ruled for each of the divisions: cash account, charge account, produce, shelter, food, clothing, and miscellaneous (form 3, pages 186 to 189). This necessitates the entering of dates on the proper page of subdivisions, as well as in the cash account, the charge account, or the produce account. The ruling of pages in form 3 (pages 186 to 189) will explain this matter more fully.

As much detail as is desired may be given in the itemization columns. More than one item may be written on each line, if dates are inserted where there is a change. The charge accounts of a household are generally with so few firms that either of the forms shown on pages 184 and 187 may be used satisfactorily. If the firms with whom charge accounts are kept are numerous, however, it may be well to devote a separate page to each firm.

If it is considered desirable to keep a separate record of the bank account and the cash account, another subdivision may be made as shown in form 3 (page 186). The advantage of this method is that it serves as a test of the accuracy of the bank book and the check book, and it also shows the state of the bank account without reference to any other record.

The opening entry of a cash account must be " balance on hand," the bank balance being shown in the deposits column, and the cash balance in the receipts column. Later entries will be as follows:

Bank deposits in the deposits column.

Withdrawals from the bank in both the withdrawals and the receipts columns.

Receipts for current use in the receipts column.

Expenditures, whether by. check or in cash, in the expenditures column, as well as in the proper column on the page of the subdivision of expenditures.

Goods for which payment is not made, in the right-hand column of the charge account and also on the proper page of subdivisions.

Payment of a charged item or items in the expenditures column, and in the left-hand column of the charge account. In entering such items, reference should be made to the name of the firm and the date on which the bill was rendered.

Receipt of produce, valued at current market rates, in the produce account and on the proper page of subdivisions.

If an account such as that indicated in form 3 (pages 186 to 189) is to be kept, a loose-leaf account book may be used so that additional sheets may be inserted where they are needed. If a bound book is preferred and it is necessary to rule all the sheets used, the book may be divided into portions, each of which consists of a sufficient number of pages to accommodate a year's records.