The innovation and development of accounting and financial management made by Jin merchants in the commercial activities of the Ming and Qing dynasties, including longmen account financial audit, human resources accounting, accounting currency, bill circulation and endorsement transfer, transfer system, bank clearing, bank secret, capital management, risk management, security payment, etc., not only met the needs of enterprise management at that time and promoted the development of China's commodity economy, but also still has certain practical significance in contemporary times.
1. Accounting system
Basic accounting system
In the Qing Dynasty, the Jin merchants had a relatively strict accounting system, especially the ticket number, and its accounting system included the accounting system, the clearing system, the transfer system, the expense system, and the settlement and dividend system. The following is a brief review of the accounting system of ticket numbers as an example.
1. Reimbursement system.
Regular reporting is an important system for the total number control semicolon. In addition to reflecting its business activities to the general account office at any time on a daily basis, each branch account office generally has the requirements of regular reporting and monthly reporting. These reports play a role in nerve conduction between the general number and the semicolon, not only through the accounting report of financial information, so that the general number can grasp the business dynamics of various places, but also through the examination of the semicolon accounting report, find problems, and correct them in a timely manner, so as to prevent the loss of money and the occurrence of malpractice.
2. Settlement system.
Shanxi ticket number has formed a unique clearing system in the process of long-term business activities. The ticket number divides the year into four bids: spring, summer, autumn and winter, and each bid selects one day as the settlement period. As soon as the settlement period arrives, the previous accounts will be crushed to death to draw the boundaries of the settlement. Then the liquidation is carried out on the basis of vouchers and account books. After the settlement is completed, the account room and the chief treasurer must submit a settlement report to the owner to reveal the problems found in the settlement, so as to deal with them in time and prevent the expansion of error accidents.
3. Transfer system.
The general term of office of the deacons of each semicolon in the ticket number is three years. At the end of the three-year period, they must issue a clear account, report the accounts handled in detail, and only after the audit is correct, can they leave office and return to their hometowns. When the head of accounting leaves office, there is also a requirement to make a list of accounts. The newly appointed supervisor can take over the work only after clearing the accounts and checking that there are no mistakes.
4. Expense system.
The ticket number has a relatively strict control over the expenses incurred in the process of business activities. For example, those who do not "eat shares"[1] have a fixed amount of salary expenses according to their rank; If the travel fee is one, all the branch staff must go home, they must carry two folds, one for luggage and one for the toll, and when they arrive at the general number, they will be inspected by the general staff, and the travel expenses will be reimbursed according to the standard. In addition, there are expenditure standards for food, clothing and petty expenses for employees, and expenses cannot be arbitrarily expanded.
4. Settlement and dividend system.
The semicolon accountant of Shanxi ticket number must prepare a "monthly inventory" and report to the general number every month; The chief accountant should also submit the full number of "monthly lists" to the chief treasurer as the basis for settling the accounts for the first month. Every time the final account period arrives (generally at the end of October of the old calendar), the semicolon and the general account office make an annual inventory based on the monthly inventory as a year's final account report. The annual inventory is copied in several copies, one is sent to the treasurer, and the rest is distributed to the shareholders, and it is approved by the meeting on the first month of the following year. According to the rules of the ticket number, a large dividend will be calculated every 3 5 years.
Basic accounting methods
In the process of long-term business activities, Shanxi Ticket Number has formed its own set of accounting methods to effectively strengthen the management of Ticket Number business. This set of accounting methods includes the following:
1. Account book setting.
The account book organization system of the ticket number is based on the "three accounts", the traditional account book organization system in China. The "three accounts" refer to the three types of account books: "grass flow" (also known as the bottom account), "flow book" and "general account" (also known as old account). "Grass Flow" is used for urgent suspense during business and plays the role of original vouchers; The "flow book" is used to sort out the accounts, has the special role of a journal, and is generally sorted out and recorded by the "grass flow" in the evening of the same day; "General Ledger" is used for classification and accounting, which is equivalent to our current general ledger, which is regularly logged in according to the "flow book".
According to the role of the account book and the registration content, the account book organization of the ticket number can be divided into four types: basic account book, business account book, settlement account book, and auxiliary account book
1) The basic account books are the three accounts mentioned above. The information provided by the three accounts is the basic information of the accounting of the ticket number, and the other account records are based on this.
2) Business books include business ledgers and current ledgers. The business ledger includes the exchange account (which is used to register the exchange of transactions), the deposit account (which is used to register the customer's deposit), the floating account (which is used to register the expenses incurred in the customer's current deposit) and the loan account (which is used to record the loan to each customer); There are two types of current ledgers: the "local current ledger" which is specially used to reflect the current exchange accounts of the semicolon ticket bank, and the "local current general ledger" which is specially used to record the current accounts with local money banks and merchants. These two parts are not only important account books for the ticket number account room to reflect and control the entire business operation process, but also the focus of ticket number accounting and review.
3) The settlement account book includes two kinds of monthly clearing and annual total, which can be used instead of red accounts to report accounts to Caidong and shareholders, and can also be used as a basis to copy red accounts and prepare formal accounting reports.
4) The auxiliary account book is a service account book, which serves the needs of profit distribution and operation management, mainly including: the contract and agreement used to record the establishment of the ticket number, as well as the dividend distribution of each year; It is used to register the luggage, travel expenses and other aspects of the travel account of each branch group member returning to his hometown to visit relatives; The insurance policy that specifically records the ticket number when the partner enters the number, as the sponsor account on which the violation is punished by the partner; and a record of financial penalties suffered by ticketed employees for violating rules to be followed.
In the account book organization system used by the ticket number, the basic account book and the settlement account book are the general account books of all industries, which have a comprehensive control role. The business account book reflects the professional characteristics of the ticket number and plays the role of classification control. In particular, through the setting of such account books, the management of current accounts has been strengthened to ensure the normal development of ticket number business activities. The auxiliary account books not only play a complementary role, but also combine the control of business activities with the control of personal persons.
2. Bookkeeping methods.
The existing historical data confirm that there are generally three accounting methods used for ticket numbers.
The first is the "single-entry receipt and payment accounting method with cash as the main body", which is a daily accounting record, with "income, expenditure (payment)" as the accounting symbol, and in the monthly, quarterly, year-end and accounting report preparation, "in, out" is mostly used as the symbol of the collective account.
The second type is the "three-legged account", which records the transfer of non-cash transactions and needs to be recorded in both the incoming account (i.e., the collection) and the incoming account (i.e., the payment), and the rest of the cash (also known as cash) cashier and goods purchase and sale account are recorded only in one party. The practical experience of the "three-legged account" partially using the double-entry recording method directly gave important inspiration to the later establishment of the "Longmen account" and the "four-legged account".
The third is the "Longmen Account" or "Four-legged Account" of the double-entry bookkeeping method adopted by some ticket numbers in the late Qing Dynasty. The following is a specific description of the gantry account.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Mr. Fu Shan, a famous scholar, referred to the accounting method of the official office and the "four-column inventory" at that time, and designed a set of simple and practical private commercial accounting methods - "Longmen Account", which promoted the transformation of China's bookkeeping method from single-entry bookkeeping to double-entry bookkeeping, and formed the principle of "there must be a way out". It scientifically divides all economic matters in private commerce into four categories, namely, import, payment, deposit, and account, according to their nature and channels, and sets up accounts for accounting. in, refers to the total income; Payment refers to all expenses (including the purchase price of sales commodities and various expenses, etc.); Deposit refers to assets and includes creditor's rights; The debt, also known as owing, refers to the liability and includes the owner's investment. At that time, private businesses generally only handled the settlement at the end of the year (i.e., the current final accounts), which was to verify and sort out the business results of the year so that they could explain to the owners. At the end of the year, the profit and loss are calculated in parallel through the difference between "in" and "payment", and also through the difference between "deposit" and "the". If "in" is greater than "pay", there is a profit; Otherwise, there is a loss. It should be equal to the difference between "deposit" and "deserve" (i.e., profit and loss). ”
The interrelationship between the four categories of entry, payment, deposit, and the four categories is:
Deposit - The .........1)
The + deposit + payment .........2）
Whenever the settlement is made, it is used to check whether the difference between the two parties is equal, and to determine the profit and loss of the current year, which is called "Helongmen". Its accounting procedures are as follows [2]:
The financial accounts of the ticket number are formed on this basis, but the accounts are more detailed. In general, the accounts are divided into journals as original records, ledgers (which are divided into more than 20 types according to categories), and cash accounts that record cash transactions. The same business activity is recorded in different accounts, and checking each other can prevent insiders' behavior. In 1879 (the fifth year of Guangxu), due to the continuous drought in Shanxi, there were donations of 10,000 taels from other places, and a small ticket number Baixingyuan was remitted from Sanjin Yuan to Taiyuan, and the government did not have time to take it out, and was privately swallowed by Wang Jian, Che Yuelong, and Jia Shiyuan, which was found out in 1883 when the accounts were audited. This shows that the financial bookkeeping system for ticket numbers is effective.
The following is a summary account of the Qingjiangpu branch of the Rishengchang ticket number in 1852 (the second year of Xianfeng): [3].
From the end of the first winter to the end of the second winter.
1) Receipts. A first year balance of the flat foot pattern silver 179763 taels.
A total of 1 collection of tickets from all over the place, flat foot patterned silver 18878872 taels, counted as follows:
A debit account is excluded, and the net external account is 71416 taels.
A case of rent, groceries, and miscellaneous expenses is 96189 taels.
A case of spring and money shop tired silver 28500 taels.
The above is in addition to the net of the deposit of the flat foot pattern silver 478820[4] Two.
3) Calculate the actual deposit.
One of the existing solid silver buckles 1094156 taels.
One other loan is 7500 silver00 taels.
A case of foreign interest in the account 26172 taels.
A piece of furniture for the flat silver 10000 taels.
4) Extraneous additions.
Except for one of the loans, the loan is flat and full of silver 1303930 taels.
A case of the external account of the silver 97588 taels.
The above is 478810[5] II.
5) Appendix (omitted).
3. Settlement method.
The settlement of Shanxi ticket number mainly involves two aspects, one is the settlement of the exchange difference between the general number and the semicolon, and the other is the settlement of the month-end and year-end books.
Settlement of exchange differences.
The settlement of the exchange difference is a heavy work for Shanxi ticket numbers. Implement the system of a small summary in one month and a summary in a year, and use two kinds of account books of "monthly clearance" and "annual summary" for semicolons, and settle when reporting to the general number. The "monthly clear" is submitted monthly, and the "annual summary" is submitted at the end of the winter month (that is, the end of October) every year (the billing year of the ticket number is the end of October each year). "Yueqing" is an origami copy, so it is also called "Yueqing folding"; The "annual summary" is a rectangular linen paper bound account book, according to the four-column inventory method, the number of remittances received and paid in a year, interest, remittance receipts and expenditures, and various expenditures of the semicolon are comprehensively entered into the account, and finally the balance and deficit with the general number are obtained. As for the deposit and loan performance of the semicolon, the total number is not reported, because it has nothing to do with the profit or loss of the general number.
According to the "monthly clearing" or "annual summary" submitted by the general number, after reviewing the monthly settlement with each semicolon, the total semicolon will be logged into the general semicolon current account according to the difference between receipt and delivery (i.e., the difference between the semicolon and the general number), that is, the settlement of the exchange rate difference will be completed. As far as the difference of the total semicolon is concerned, the semicolon income is greater than the difference paid, that is, the total number of silver is collected and deposited; The difference between the semicolon and the income is greater, that is, the total number is short and the semicolon is undersigned. Regardless of whether the total number owes a semicolon or the semicolon owes the total number, because the ticket number implements a unified accounting system for the total number, and the general number is responsible for profit and loss, the interest is not calculated for this exchange rate between the total number and the total number. The annual summary account of the ticket number is calculated according to the theory of the four-column inventory, that is, the old management, the new income, the expulsion, and the actual four-column accounting. The content of the summary account is basically carried out according to the four columns, but it is different from the general. The difference is that it combines the collection and payment of membership votes and the income and expenditure of business to obtain the net difference between receipt and payment or payment, so that in the new collection and expulsion, there is a situation of simultaneous collection. This method of knotting the difference in exchange has been insisted on for a hundred years, and it is called the "method of killing each other".
Closing of the year-end book.
Shanxi ticket number should be settled in "Helong" every month, and the posting should be checked for errors and omissions. The basic formula of "payment = deposit" used in the settlement of "Helong" reflects the preliminary understanding of the principle of double-entry bookkeeping by accounting workers in ancient China. "Helongmen" was originally a term used in the construction of embankments and bridges in ancient times, such as the construction of embankments, generally from both ends of the construction, and finally in the middle of the indirect merger, called "Helongmen". The "Longmen Account" uses a double-track calculation of profit and loss, and balances the balance through the difference trial calculation, and checks all the accounts, and its importance is the same as that of the "Longmen" in the construction of dams and bridges, so it is named.
There are two ways to "close the dragon" in the "Longmen account", one is to carry out the "closure" settlement on the book, that is, to open a special account page in the "total settlement", separate the total number of "in", "pay", "deposit" and "the", and then use the "closure" settlement formula to verify whether the "Longmen" is compatible. Those who use the book "Helong" will not compile a separate "closure"; The second is to carry out the "closure" settlement on the "closing book", that is, to carry out this work between the "settlement of the book" and the "deposit of the closing book". The specific application of the "Helong" trial balance method is relatively simple, whether it is "Helong" on the book or "Helong" on the "book", it is determined by the "Helong" settlement formula. On either side of this formula are two tracks that calculate profit and loss, which are expressed in different ways, but have exactly the same goal. Where the amount of profit and loss calculated by the two tracks is equal, it is called "gantry match", and if it is unequal, it is called "gantry incompatibility". "Longmen Convergence" indicates that the daily recording and settlement of the accounts of the current period are correct, and the stamp of "Longmen Convergence" is stamped to indicate the closure; For example, "the gantry does not match", it means that there are problems in the daily recording and settlement of the accounts of the current period, and it must be checked in time and the errors must be corrected until "the gantry is compatible".
Second, the financial management system.
Create a currency unit of accounting
People call the ticket number "Huitong World". The reason why it can be like this, the first condition is that at that time, the Zhou Xingyin and the flat yards in various places are very different, it sets its own flat weight, through the conversion, plays the role of a unified flat code, a unified accounting currency unit.
In the Qing Dynasty, Zhou Xingyin two. The size of the flat weight varies from place to place, and the color of the silver is high and low. In the land of one port, there are many kinds of flat weights. For example, in Beijing, there were several kinds of "Beijing Gong Weight", "Beijing Siping", "Beijing Erliangping" and so on. These weights have different names and sizes. [6] In order to compare the size of the weights in various places, in order to establish their own unified accounting currency unit, in the case of weights and measures without a unified national standard, each ticket number has to establish its own weight system, and weigh the weight of each place, compared with how much larger or smaller than the self-placed weight per 100 taels, as the standard for the receipt and delivery of silver taels, and by virtue of accounting, to safeguard the interests of both parties to the transaction, this system is the original flat system of the ticket number. [7] For example, the flat weight of Dadeheng is compared with each level in Beijing in units of one hundred taels, "Jing Gong Weight" is small two two seven, "Beijing Si Ping" is small three two three, and "Beijing two two ping" is small five two three. For another example, Shanghai's "Dougui Silver" is 1,000 taels, Shanghai's "Shen Gongwei" is 93.5 taels, and Heda Deheng Benping is only 920.1357 taels. [8]
This level is not only necessary for exchange, but also indispensable in the accounting of ticket numbers. Only this level can unify the balance of silver and silver collected and handed over with various weights, so that the bill number claims and debts have a unified unit in the account books. Otherwise, the inconsistency of the unit of measurement will not accurately reflect the balance sheet of the ticket number.
The Benping system of Jinshang also provides conditions for the ticket number to obtain "Yu Ping" in the process of undertaking the business of exchange deposits. The so-called Yu Ping is the ticket number in the receipt and delivery of the silver two, due to the reason of the conversion of the various flat weights and the excess silver two, which is the non-operating income of the ticket number.
How did Yu Ping come about? Take Dadeheng as an example:
A. Shanghai - Qi County.
Shanghai: Shen Ping 1000 = Qi Ping 92588 = Dade Heng Benping 9201357
Qi Ping 1000 = Ben Ping 9937
Shanghai-Qi County (Shanghai receives and applies fairly, and Qi County pays Qi fair).
Shanghai Acceptance Fair 1000 = (Discount) Dade Heng Benping 9201357
Qi County pays Shen Fairness 1000 = (pay) Qi Fairness 92588
Fold) Benping 92588×993.7/1000
Benping 920046956
Net profit 9201357－920.0469567 = Benping 0088744
Qi County - Shanghai (that is, Qi County receives Qi fair, Shanghai pays Shen fair).
Qi County collects Qi fair 1000 = (fold) Dade Heng Benping 9937
Shanghai paid Benping 9937 = (pay) Shen fair 9937×1000/920.1357
Shen Ping 1079949403
Fold Qi Fair 1079949403×925.88/1000
Qi Fair 9999035533
Net profit Qi fair 1000 9999035533 = Qi fair 00964467
B. Beijing - Qi County.
Jing Fair 1000 = Qi Fair 978 = Dade Heng Benping 973
Qi Ping 1000 = Dade Heng Benping 9937
Beijing Qi County (Beijing receives Beijing fair, Qi County pays Qi fair).
Beijing receives Beijing fair 1000 = (fold) Benping 973
Qi County pays 1000 = 978 for Qi Fair
Benping 9718386
Net profit 973 9718386 = Benping 11614
Qi County - Beijing (Qi County receives Qi fairness, Beijing pays Beijing fairness).
Qi County collects Qi fair 1000 = (fold) Benping 9937
Beijing needs to pay 9937 = (pay) Jing fair 9937×1000/973
Jing Fair 1021274409
Fold) Qi fair 998806372
Net profit Qi fair 1000 998806372 = Qi Fair 1193628
The root of Yu Ping's profit is **? To study the profit of Yu Ping, it is necessary not only to compare, but also to use mathematical methods.
First of all, look at the setting of the Dade Hengping code:
1>1000 Liangjing Fair 967 Da Deheng yard.
1000 Liang Jing Fair 972 Liang Qi Fair.
1000 Liang Qi Fair 9938 two major Deheng yards.
2>1000 Liangjing public code 973 two Deheng code.
1000 Liang Jing Gong Code 978 Liang Qi Fair.
1000 Liang Qi Fair 9938 two major Deheng yards.
In 1 >, if you look at it according to the normal way of thinking, 972 Liang Qi is fair 967 two major Deheng codes, this formula should be true, that is, it is fair with 1000 Liang Qi 9938 two major Deheng code should correspond proportional. In fact, 967 972≠9938/1000 。
There is also such a problem in the 2 >, that is, 978 Liang Qi is fair, 973 is two Deheng yards, and 1000 Liang Qi is fair 9938. The two major Deheng codes contradict each other.
It is this simple two-by-two folding, and irreplaceable with each other, in the process of flat code folding, resulting in Yu Ping. So that the ticket number has this special profit in the exchange process.