eceived, an entry is made
in the column headed "Received", to the proper account, showing date,
order number, quantity and price.

Each sales tag is used to make the entries in the columns headed
"Disbursed", in which the date, tag number, quantity, price, and the
balance quantity on hand are shown.

If this is done daily, for all the sales tags of the particular day,
and the cards on which the "disbursed" entries were made are kept
separate from the balance of the cards, it is an easy matter to arrive
at the cost of all sales for each day, The advantage of having this
daily information will be explained and illustrated in following
paragraphs.

The Use and Abuse of Credit.

The question of the proper use of credit is closely allied with the
purchasing of goods. A great many business failures can be traced
directly to overexpanded credit. Any battery service station
proprietor who does not place a voluntary limit on the amount of
credit for which he asks is, to say the least, running a very great
business risk. The moment he expands his credit to the limit, he
leaves himself with no margin of safety, and a sudden change in
business conditions may place him in a serious situation.

Commercial agencies usually call this condition a lack of capital. The
real cause, however, is not so much lack of capital as it is too much
business on credit. This does not mean that credit should not be
sought; or that all business should be done on the capital actually
invested in the concern. Credit is necessary to commercial life. Very
few business concerns are so strong financially as to be able to do
without credit.

Credit should be sought and used intelligently, and it is not a hard
matter for any battery service station proprietor to keep his credit
good. All that is necessary is to take a few precautions, and observe
in general the principles of good business. The first requisite, of
course, is to accept no more credit than the business will stand.
Sometimes it is possible to secure enough credit to ruin a business.
Its present condition and future prospects may appear so good as to
warrant securing all the credit possible under the circumstances.

It requires courage to limit the growth and the temporary prosperity
of a business by keeping down the credit accepted. It is very hard to
refuse business. It is difficult not to make extensions when there is
enough business in sight to pay for the extensions. But the acid t