The Journal of a mercantile house ought to open, at the beginning of each year, with an enumeration of their assets and debts, as follows: : SUNDRIES DRs. to STOCK. For the following, being the assets of the house. CASH; amount at the bankers' this day (1st Jan.) BILLS RECEIVABLE; in hand, as per bill book THREE AND A HALF PER CENT, STOCK, 6000., valued at 901. per 1004. stock SHIP AMELIA; our three eighths of that vessel ADVENTURE IN IRISH LINKN; amount in hand, computed at cost price Let the transaction to be first explained be an order for goods from a correspondent abroad. A house in Jamaica sends instructions to the house at home to buy and ship a quantity of manufactured articles, suited to the Jamaica market, as follows: Order from JAMES ALLAN & Co., of Kingston, Jamaica, to HENRY BARCLAY & Co., of London. J. A. & Co. Best white Platillas, 1 case. Linen tick assorted, 3-1ths width, 9d., 18., 18. 3d.: 10 pieces each, cut up in 22-yard lengths. 50 do. do. do. 7-8ths, superior, 5d. a yard. 2 do. 1 do. youths' do. do. drab, 20s. each. This order the London merchant divides among six, seven, or more wholesale dealers, according to their respective lines of business. Each dealer, or tradesman, as he is commonly called, provides his portion of the order in the course of the fortnight, three weeks, or month, allowed him by the merchant; and when the goods are packed and ready to ship, he sends in his account, or bill of parcels, thus: Then follow, stated in like manner, the particulars of 8 bales, No. 9. to 16. both inclusive, 24 6 8 0 4 0 0.10 The merchant, having received the whole of the bills of parcels, fixed on a vessel, and agreed for the freight, proceeds to make an entry at the Custom-house, and to ship the goods. That done, the next step is to prepare the Invoice, or general account of the shipment, as follows: INVOICE of Goods shipped by HENRY BARCLAY & Co., in the Rawlins, J. Thomson, from London to Kingston in Jamaica, on account and risk of Messrs. JAMES ALLAN & Co. of Kingston. This invoice, being sent out by the vessel to Messrs. Allan & Co., conveys to them a number of particulars in a short space; viz. the mark, the numbers, the value, and the contents of each package. In former times it was the practice to make an invoice very long, inserting in it a literal copy of each bill of parcels, but it has now become usual to make each tradesman deliver a duplicate of his account, to be sent abroad with the goods; in which case the invoice may be, like the above, little more than a summary of the bills of parcels. This method has two advantages: it saves time at the countinghouse of the exporter; and it affords to his correspondent an assurance that no more is charged to him than has been actually paid for the articles. An invoice ought to be made out with the utmost care, for it is a document of great importance in several respects: first, between the exporting merchant and his correspondent abroad; and next, when in the hands of the latter, it may and generally does form a voucher for calculating the import duty, as well as for the sales effected to retailers or other dealers. The sum insured by the exporting merchant generally exceeds the amount of the invoice by 2 per cent., because the recovery of a loss from insurers involves a charge of fully that amount. It is thus necessary to cover not only the price of the goods, and the charges of shipping, insurance, and freight, but such further sum as may enable the shipper, in case of loss, to carry to the credit of his correspondent the amount of the invoice, clear of any deduction. The preceding invoice, being for account of a mercantile house, who sell again to dealers, comprises a variety of articles: as a further specimen, we subjoin two short invoices, for account of sugar planters, and confined to articles consumed on their estates. INVOICE of Plantation Stores, shipped by HENRY BARCLAY & Co. in the Adventure, J. Williamson, Master, for Kingston, Jamaica, by order of Mr. JAMES THOMSON, Planter, and for his account and risk. J. T. 1. to 6. 6 bales lint Osnaburgs, per bill of parcels from James Anderson £240 0 0 Then follow, in like manner, the mark, number, and contents of various other packages of plantation stores (hats, shoes, nails, &c.), composing the shipment; amounting in all to 2,352 10 0 Errors excepted. HENRY BARCLAY & Co. INVOICE of 60 Barrels of Herrings, shipped by HENRY BARCLAY & Co. of London, in the Barclay, James Ferrier, bound to Barbadoes, by order and for account and risk of JoHN HENDERSON, Esq., Planter, and consigned to him at Bridgetown, Barbadoes. London, 18th of Feb. 1843. 60 barrels prime white herrings, deliverable at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, free of charges, at 21s. per This invoice is very short, the agreement having been, that the herrings should be delivered at a fixed price, all charges included. J. H. barrel - £5300 ACCOUNT OF SALES.-We come now to a transaction of a different kind; to the sale of goods imported from abroad. A merchant in England receives from a correspondent, whether in India, the West Indies, or North America, notice of a shipment of sugar, coffee, rice, or other produce, about to be made to England, with instructions to effect insurance on the computed value. This is the first step in the transaction; on the arrival of the vessel the goods are entered, landed, and warehoused; and a broker is instructed to report on the state and prospects of the market. On a sale taking place, an account is made out and forwarded to the correspondent abroad, as follows:ACCOUNT SALE of 7 Hhds. Sugar, by the Ceres, from Trinidad, for Account of MORRIS PITTMAN, Esq., of Trinidad. £234 0 0 Errors excepted. HENRY BARClay & Co. London, 2d of April, 1843. We have here, on one side of the account, the quantity and value of the goods sold ; on the other, the various charges attending the bringing home, the warehousing, and the sale of the articles. The quantity of goods accounted for in an account sale must be the same as in the invoice; if it be less, whether through damage at sea, through waste, or any other cause, the extent of the deficiency should be explicitly stated. By the "overtaker" in the following sale is meant the additional barrel or package required for the coffee taken out of such of the tierces as have been opened on account of breakage or other damage. Allowances of Weight. The tare is the weight of the cask, and differs, of course, in almost every package: but trett (see the following sale) is a fixed allowance of 5 lbs. per tierce in the case of coffee, intended, like draft in the case of sugar, to insure good weight to the buyer, and to enable him to do the same to those who purchase again from him. ACCOUNT SALE of 20 Tierces Coffee, per Vittoria, from Demerara, for Account of JAMES FORBES, Esq., Demerara. Freight is charged on the weight of the produce only; not of the produce and packages together. This allowance is of old standing, and is to be traced less to the reason of the case, than to the competition prevailing among shipmasters. JOURNAL ENTRIES resulting from the preceding Accounts of Sale. Fullo of To SUGAR per Ceres. Proceeds of 7 hhds., M. P. 1. to 7., sold by them at one month's credit, from 2d of Aprit 234 0 0 Proceeds of 20 tierces, J. F. 1. to 20., sold at one month's credit, from 3d of April • 676 5 6 SUGAR per CERES Dr. to SUNDRIES. TO INSURANCE ACCOUNT; for premium and policy To FRRIGHT ACCOUNT; for freight, primage, and pierage To CUSTOMS INWARD; duty and entry CHARGES; dock dues, 52s. 10d.; warehouse rent, 35s. 2d.; land waiters, 168.; sampling, 38. 6d. ; To THOMAS KEMBLE & Co.; brokerage, 1 per cent. To PROFIT AND Loss; for commissions Interest on freight and duty TO MORRIS PITTMAN; proceeds due 2d of May, 1843 107 5 13 6 2 69 - £5 10 10 1 12 3 910 5 6 5 15 6 24 4 11 50 7 3 1 81 11 3 234 0 0 19 6 9 44 2 6 13 18 7 6 16 7 20 8 1 571 13 1 £676 37 We have thus given an example of the transactions which form a great part of the business of our merchants; the export of manufactured goods, and the import and sale of produce received in return. Our next illustration shall be of a merchant's Cash-book. The following is an example of the entries for a month: These transactions, when put into the Journal form, stand thus :— MARCH, 1842. CASH DR. to SUNDRIES. Received this month. a. d. TO SHIP AMELIA. 175 3 0 3d. Freight from James Jacobs 6 TO BULLS RECEIVABLE. 6th. Received payment of J. Anderson, due this day 18th. Discounted Harrison & Co., due 9th of May £200 O 0 930 10 0 152 10 0 7 To WILLIAM SPENCE & Co. 970 0 10 15th. Received balance of their account 8 To DEBENTURE ACCOUNT. 15th. Drawback on tobacco by the Plover 3 To PROFIT AND LOSS. 18th. Received discount on sundry accounts, per cash book 15 8 0 63 8 9 £2,307 0 7 The above shows, that for all sums received, the account of cash is made debtor, and the parties paying the same are made creditors; while for all sums paid, the cash is credited, and the parties receiving them are made debtors. We are next to state the mode of entering bill transactions. BILLS RECEIVABLE. We have seen by the Balance sheet that several correspondents are indebted to the house. The debts of correspondents abroad may be reduced by remitting either bills, specie, or merchandise for sale: from correspondents in England, bills are almost the only mode of remitting. When bills come to hand, the rule is to enter each in the bill book, with a minute statement of the date, term, sum, and other particulars, thus: No. Received From whom. Drawn by 6308 Mar. 631 10 do. 632/12 do. Bailey & Co. W. Adams Belfast, 1 Mar. 2 mths. T. Jones, Dublin A. Williams The Journal Entries for these bills are as follows: Sum How disp. of. £ 1-4 May 350 Rainier & Co.! 3-6 April: 135 Smith & Co. 15-8 May 260 Overeo1&Co. BILLS PAYABLE. The entries under this head are, of course, wholly different from the preceding, being for acceptances of the house given on account of sums owing by it to correspondents. Each acceptance is entered in the book of bills payable, thus: The preceding entries, few as they are compared to the monthly transactions of a house of business, are sufficient to show the nature of a Journal as well as of the sub |