comparison; or, during the same period, may maintain such groupings of the primary accounts hereby prescribed as may be desired for that purpose. It is further ordered, That any such carrier or any receiver or operating trustee of any such carrier may, in addition to the operating expense accounts hereby prescribed, keep any temporary or experimental accounts the purpose of which is to develop the efficiency of operations: Provided, however, That such temporary or experimental accounts shall not impair the integrity of any general or primary account hereby prescribed; and that any such temporary or experimental accounts shall be open to inspection by the Commission. It is further ordered, That July 1, 1908, be, and is hereby, fixed as the date on which said First Issue shall become effective. [7 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. To Carriers Concerned: Interstate Commerce Commission, This Classification of Operating Expenses for Express Companies, with the text pertaining thereto, is issued in accordance with an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission, a copy of which will be found immediately preceding this letter. It may be proper to state in explanation of some of the accounting principles to which this Classification conforms, that it is the purpose of the Interstate Commerce Commission to secure a uniform system of accounts for all transportation agencies, so far as this may be done consistently with the different commercial and physical conditions that pertain to these several agencies. In two particulars this Classification makes quite important concessions to the current practice of express companies; thus, the accounting rule that rent is a proper charge to Income rather than to Operating Expenses is but loosely applied, and the use made of the annual inventory in the maintenance account is peculiar to this Classification. It seemed best in these cases, as also in certain minor questions, to permit the accounts to develop in the light of accumulated experience. [9 It is hoped that Accounting Officers will correspond freely with the Division of Statistics and Accounts in case doubt should arise with regard to the correct interpretation of any account, since in no other way will it be possible to insure uniformity in the interpretation of the accounting rules here prescribed. Henry C. Adams, In charge of Statistics and Accounts. [10 1. Maintenance 1. Superintendence. 2. Buildings, Fixtures, and Grounds. 3. Office Equipment.. 4. Cars-Repairs. 5. Cars-Renewals. 6. Cars-Depreciation. 7. Horses..... 8. Vehicles-Repairs. 9. Vehicles-Renewals. 10. Stable Equipment. 11. Transportation Equipment. 12. Other Expenses.... 13. Maintaining Joint Facilities-Dr.. 14. Maintaining Joint Facilities-Cr.. II. Traffic Expenses 15. Superintendence.. 16. Outside Agencies.. 17. Advertising.. 18. Traffic Associations. 19. Stationery and Printing 20. Other Expenses. 23 24 24 24 25 25 [11 26 26 26 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 29 30 30 31 31 31 36. Damage to Property.. *Numbers refer to folios in brackets on right-hand side of pages, which are inserted to preserve page numbers of original issue. TEXT OF CLASSIFICATION OF OPERATING EXPENSES. I. MAINTENANCE. 1. SUPERINTENDENCE. This account includes: A. Pay of officers-Pay of General Superintendents, Superintendents, Superintendents of Maintenance, Assistant Superintendents, Engineers and other officers when directly in charge of maintenance of structures and equipment. B. Pay of clerks and attendants.-Pay of chief and other clerks and attendants in offices of officers whose pay is charged to this account. C. Office and other expenses.-Rent and cost of repairing rented offices, rent and cost of telephone service, telegraph messages, heat, light, ice, water, furniture, and supplies for offices of officers whose pay is charged to this account; incidental office and traveling expenses of such officers and their clerks; premium on fidelity bonds of such officers and their assistants; expenses of photographing buildings and structures; cost of drafting and engineering instruments and expenses of repairing same and cost of supplies used by officers and employees whose pay is charged to this account. The following is a list of the more important articles chargeable to this account: Note A.-When employees enumerated above are engaged in work not chargeable to "Maintenance" their pay and expenses should be charged to the specific work on which engaged. [13 Note B.-When officers and others above enumerated have charge of other departments also, their salaries and expenses should be apportioned among the departments over which they have supervision. Note C.-The premiums paid by a carrier to its bonding fund should be credited on its books to a "Guaranty Reserve" account, to which the amount of all claims for losses covered by fidelity bonds should be charged. To such account should be charged all reinsurance or rebonding premiums paid bonding companies and to it should be credited all amounts recovered from such surety companies for losses reinsured by them. Note D.-Appropriations made by a carrier to its "Guaranty Reserve" through Income Account should be credited directly to its "Guaranty Reserve" account. |