diskusbooks Chapter 132 Double-Entry Bookkeeping
Chapter 132 Double-Entry Bookkeeping
Then, upon closer inspection of the pen Cheng Ruoan used for bookkeeping, she noticed that it was different from the pen used by ordinary shopkeepers. Curious, Luo Niangzi moved closer to Cheng Ruoan to take a look.
"Madam Cheng, this penny of yours..."
Cheng Ruoan hummed in agreement, picked up the pen in her hand, and gestured to her, "What's wrong?"
"It looks quite exquisite and interesting. It's different from other charcoal pencils I've seen." Madam Luo also came from a poor family. When she was a child, she used charcoal pencils when she was learning accounting from her peddler father.
The charcoal sticks burned in the stove at home, once shaved thin, can be wrapped with a strip of cloth and used for writing and drawing.
However, Cheng Ruo'an used a charcoal pencil with replaceable cores that Si Silang made for her. It was actually made by polishing thin bamboo twigs inside and out to make a pencil case.
Then find a charcoal stick of suitable thickness, put it into the hollow, write a little, and pull a little out.
Although it's rather clumsy, it's much more useful than a calligraphy brush until Shiro figured out how to make that sharpenable "pencil".
She really can't write calligraphy well; the characters she writes waste too much paper.
Cheng Ruoan smiled and said, "It's nothing special, just a difference between the North and the South. Bamboo is everywhere in Bachuan Prefecture."
She couldn't very well say that she made this bamboo charcoal pencil by comparing it to a modern pencil she took from her spatial dimension, could she?
But the excuse was so natural that Madam Luo accepted it readily, saying, "That's true."
After marveling at her bamboo charcoal pencils, Madam Luo then became curious about Cheng Ruoan's bookkeeping method.
"Madam Cheng, I've never seen your bookkeeping method before..."
"Oh, this is what a merchant from the Western Rong taught me. I found it simple and easy to remember, so I've been using it ever since."
"Cheng Erniangzi, do these curved symbols represent numbers?"
"Yes, I learned this from a peddler I met in Bachuan Prefecture. He said he learned it from some Indian merchant."
I don't know many characters, and I can't write them very well, so these symbols are perfect for me. Plus, these Sanskrit numerals work very well with this bookkeeping method.
Ten years ago, the Great Xia Dynasty was still in its golden age. The previous two emperors advocated enlightenment in their governance policies, focused on economic development, and allowed trade with many countries.
The Great Xia Dynasty was originally vast, with a long border and many neighboring foreign countries, so completely cutting off domestic and foreign trade would not have been effective.
So at that time, they simply encouraged the exchange of goods, and merchants from many other countries came to Daxia to do business.
Cheng Ruoan's excuse was so well-founded that it was impossible to doubt or verify.
Just perfect.
"Second Madam Cheng, is it really that simple? You're just teaching me verbally, how can I possibly learn it?" What Madam Luo really valued was Cheng Ruo'an's bookkeeping method.
She saw Cheng Ruoan's account book, on which four vertical lines were drawn.
Unlike the Great Xia's right-to-left reading and writing system, this ledger has a summary on the far left and a balance on the far right.
The middle part consists of "receipts" and "expenditures".
Madam Luo was also an excellent bookkeeper; otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to be promoted to the head manager of Youjian Embroidery Workshop by Master Zhao, even though Manager Luo already managed the Youjian Inn in the entire Songshan County.
Therefore, Cheng Ruoan's bookkeeping method was immediately apparent to her, and after a few more glances, she had already grasped its advantages.
The more she looked at Cheng Ruo'an, the more her eyes lit up, and her heart warmed.
"Oh, Ruo'an, please teach me! I'll treat you to the best feast in Songshan County, how about it?"
Cheng Ruoan smiled so hard her eyes crinkled; she was never a petty person.
"If Sister Luo wants to learn what I teach naturally, then there's no need for a banquet."
As she spoke, Cheng Ruoan took out another family account book that she had kept and explained it to Madam Luo.
"I call this double-entry bookkeeping. It has a simple structure and records more comprehensively than traditional single-entry bookkeeping... Most importantly, it makes it easy to check and reconcile accounts."
And so, Manager Luo, who had already finished taking inventory, shamelessly followed his wife and Cheng Ruoan to learn Indian numerals and double-entry bookkeeping.
In modern terms, both of them are "veteran accountants".
Naturally, he quickly learned this bookkeeping method.
Cheng Ruoan was worried that the two of them wouldn't be able to keep up and would forget everything when they got back, so she specially gave them some questions to practice bookkeeping.
Both of them grasped the essence of this bookkeeping method, and the simulated bills they recorded were completely accurate; however, neither of them could remember Arabic numerals very quickly.
We will still use the numbers 壹, 贰, 叁, 肆, 伍 to write the numbers.
After checking the two students' homework, Cheng Ruoan nodded in satisfaction: "Great job, you two learn very quickly, but you're not used to Indian numerals for a while and can't remember them."
But that's okay. You can switch over once you get used to it. If you really don't like it, you can just keep the status quo.
Madam Luo really liked Cheng Ruoan as her "master" because he didn't take advantage of his abilities to force his disciples to follow his habits.
"Hey, Ruoan is right. After all, this new way of keeping accounts has already greatly reduced our burden."
Manager Luo's eyes practically disappeared from his grin. "Indian numerals are simpler to use than Chinese numerals, and they can even be used as a code. Ruo'an, could I teach them to our Boss Zhao later?"
Cheng Ruoan smiled and nodded, "Of course. This saves me the trouble of teaching Sister Zhao. If Sister Zhao doesn't know how to read this kind of account book, I'll have to make two accounts for her."
Shopkeeper Luo laughed heartily: "So it turns out that Ruo'an is just like me, a lazy person."
The three of them were in high spirits.
Looking back, I realized that I hadn't finished counting the goods for Madam Luo yet.
Cheng Ruoan told the couple to digest the double-entry bookkeeping method a little more, and then went to check the goods at the embroidery shop.
After moving everything out, Cheng Ruoan was exhausted. Now, Aunt Zhang and Dapeng are helping her make hand cream, but they probably don't have enough manpower.
We need to add another warehouse manager/cashier.
As Cheng Ruoan pondered this, he handed the delivery slip to Luo Niangzi for her signature.
"There's an embroidery shop that needs 270 jars of cloud ointment, the wholesale price is 378 taels. Madam Luo, please check the goods."
After counting the money and finding no problems, Madam Luo handed over the prepared payment to Cheng Ruoan.
Looking at so many plump, white porcelain jars, Madam Luo's face lit up with joy: "This cloud ointment is really selling well; it's more profitable than small embroidered items like handkerchiefs and purses."
Originally, the cloud ointment was sold at Youjian Embroidery Workshop as a side product to the embroiderers.
Because of the story of the embroiderer who got chilblains on her hands when she went back to her hometown to visit relatives last time, now all the embroiderers in a certain embroidery workshop know how good the cloud ointment is, even without Luo Niangzi saying it.
So last time, Zhao Dongjia sent thirty cans to her main store in the county town to test the waters, but the embroiderers bought them all before the next night.
They not only buy for themselves, but those who are better off also buy for their mothers, sisters, and aunts-in-law.
There are also embroiderers who are on good terms with other embroidery workshops, and they spread the word about how good the cloud cream is. Now they are asking around everywhere to buy the cloud cream.