There is also kept in the general ledger a detailed statement of certain items, such as Capital Stock, Surplus, Profit and Loss, Bonds Borrowed, Bonds Loaned, Discount, Interest, Rent, Exchange, Commission, Losses Recovered, Tax Reserve, Interest Reserve, National Bank Notes Outstanding, the 5 per cent Fund, Demand Certificates of Deposit, and Back Dividends. These accounts are proved to the general ledger once a week, and oftener if possible; certain other accounts may be subdivided in ledgers and proved monthly or weekly, such as Expense, Bond Earnings, Suspense, Cashier's Checks, etc.
Different departments of the bank furnish ledger proofs of the individual, bank, trust company and savings bank, and col lection ledgers, and also proofs of all bond accounts, loan ac counts, foreign division accounts, and bills discounted accounts, and these are checked against the general ledger.
The debit and credit tickets are posted to the various ac counts of which accounts current are kept. These items are fully described, and in such a way that they can be easily traced at any time.
The ledger clerk devotes much time to collecting debit and credit journal tickets, which he proves against the general journal, and to collecting credit tickets of the third, fifth, and foreign tellers, which he proves against the joint total of the third, fifth, and foreign tellers' proofs.
The Statement Book In the statement book every account in the general ledger is represented, and it shows at a glance not only the condition of each account but also, on closer examination, the condition of the bank as a whole. For example, the amount of money loaned (with or without collateral), the amount invested, amount of cash on hand, amount of cashed checks out for collection, amount used by the different departments, expenses, profits, reserves, deposits, and the total assets are shown separately. These figures are so arranged as to facilitate the work and to impart as readily as possible the information sought. To be of value to the officers, the statement book must be complete when wanted, for the bank's capacity to make loans depends entirely upon the condition of the reserve. For instance, a credit balance at the clearing house, after the exchanges each morning, increases the loaning power of the bank, and a debit balance decreases it.
Bank Reports From the general ledger or the statement book are prepared numerous reports and these books should be so devised as to facilitate this work. Some of the principal reports of a member bank in New York City are as follows: I. To the Comptroller of the Currency:
i. A report of the condition of the bank at the time of "calls," which come not less than five times a year. These reports, the most complete and extensive of all, must be published by the banks themselves. and their combined totals are published by the Comptroller in his "Abstracts of Condition." 2. Special reports whenever in his judgment they are neces sary to a full and complete understanding of a bank's condition. In connection with special investigations of some feature of banks in general or of some bank in particular it is sometimes necessary or advisable to require special reports.
3. Reports, within ten days after declaring any dividend, of the amount of such dividend, and the amount of net earnings in excess of such dividend. These reports are divided into three sections dealing with: (a) the profits realized and the amounts charged off during the period since the last report; (b) the net profit or loss of the current period, the undivided profits or losses, if any, of previous periods, any amount withdrawn from surplus, authorized reduction of capital not repaid to stockholders, paid assessment for impaired capital since the last report, and any voluntary contributions to surplus or profits since the last report; and (c) the total money received from all sources and its distribu tion into surplus fund, dividends declared, and undivided profits on hand.
II. To the Federal Reserve Bank: i. State member banks are required to make not less than three reports of condition at the call of the federal reserve bank on dates to be fixed by the Federal Reserve Board. They are also required to report the payment of dividends. In the amend ments of June 21, 1917, to the Federal Reserve Act, the con cession was made to the state banks to report to the federal reserve bank rather than to the Comptroller and to have the date of call fixed by the board.
2. Weekly reports of condition are asked from member banks in a selected list of roe leading cities. To understand better the condition of the banks and the market and the effects and work ings of the Treasury war finance operations, these weekly reports were devised in the latter part of 1917. The report covers the United States securities owned, loans secured by United States bonds and certificates, all other loans and investments, reserve with the federal reserve bank, cash in vault, net demand deposits on which reserve is computed, time deposits, and government deposits.