The following report of the Special Cost Committee, appointed by the Permanent Cost Committee at the meeting held at the Congress Hotel, Chicago, May 22nd and 23rd, 1917, outlines a Uniform Cost Finding System that will adequately meet the needs of Brass Manufacturers. It has been constantly borne in mind by this Committee that this Uniform Cost Finding System must be as applicable to the small manufacturer as to the large one, and we believe that a careful study of this report will bear out the statement that it will meet the requirements of any brass manufacturer, regardless of the size of his plant. In considering a Uniform Cost Finding System, its relation to other phases of the business of manufacturing must be taken into consideration. There is production work, which consists of planning the work to be performed in the factory, and the issuing of instructions covering it; control of labor and pay-roll department. Then there is Purchasing, Inspecting, Receiving, General Accounting and Shipping. It has been the aim of this Committee to confine its recommendations to actual cost finding as much as possible, although occasional references to Production and General Accounting will be found. By this is meant, the general books should reflect in total what the cost accounts represent in detailâ⠡¬â€�in other words, the accounts in the general books must be so arranged that the detailed charges and credits turned in monthly by the Cost Department can be posted directly to the general account affected. The accounts in the general books must be of sufficient detail to overcome the bad practice of charging many items to General Expense that really deserve separate accounts
