The form of statements used by banks differ somewhat from that used by manufacturers and jobbers, and, while it differs slightly as between banks, and also as to whether the borrower is an individual, a partnership, or a corporation, in general the statement required follows the lines of the form shown in Fig. 1. This statement is signed, in the name of the firm by a member, in the case of a partnership; and in the name of the company by one of its officers, in the case of a corporation. A statement in the same form gives all of the information of a financial nature required by the manufacturer or merchant. =Analysis of the Statement.= Of equal importance with the statement is the ability to read it--to correctly interpret its real meaning. This calls for a careful analysis of the several items of which it is composed. To make a correct analysis means that the credit man must have a general knowledge of the business in which the one asking for credit is engaged. The banker must know, for example, whether the season is one in which more capital is likely to be needed in the trade of the borrower, or one in which he should be liquidating his indebtedness. [Illustration: Fig. 1. Customer's Financial Statement] So important is this phase of the question that some of the larger banks have adopted the plan of assigning requests for loans in different businesses to different officers. One man will investigate real estate securities, one, applications from board of trade houses, another handles applications from packing houses, others look after the steel, building, jobbing, and manufacturing enterprises. Each man is a specialist, making a special study of conditions in the business to which he is assigned. In making an analysis of a statement, each item must be taken up separately and considered with respect to its relationship to other items, and its bearing on the statement as a whole. _Cash on Hand._ The cash on hand should be consistent with the needs of the business, and, if listed separately, the cash in office should never be a large sum. There is seldom any good reason why cash should not be deposited daily. The banker will find it necessary to carefully scrutinize the amount in bank, particularly if the borrower claims to deposit in no other bank. _Merchandise._ This item is always a somewhat uncertain quantity; often an estimate pure and simple, and the debtor is unlikely to make his estimate too low. In the absence of provable figures, it is necessary for the credit man to apply his knowledge of the business. Is the stock larger than should be required? Is it too low to enable the debtor to keep pace with his competitors? Or, if a manufacturing business, how much is raw material and how much finished goods?