An installment dealer will nurse an account to the limit, rather than take back the goods he has sold. Once he has collected the cost of the article, he will accept payments of almost any amount, but it will not do to let the debtor know how lenient he is prepared to be; at least a semblance of enforcing the contract must be kept up. [Illustration: Fig. 23. Installment Contract Register] The most familiar branch of the installment business is the sale of house furnishings and pianos. The sale of house furnishings on the installment plan is rapidly increasing, and probably more pianos are sold on this than any other plan. Furniture dealers who formerly sold only for cash or on approved credits, are finding profitable business among the better class of installment buyers. Installment sales are made on contracts, or leases, which provide that title to the goods shall be held by the seller until all payments have been made, and that the right of possession shall be forfeited by the buyer if he fails to make any payment when due. When the contract is folded, the outside shows a form printed as in Fig. 22. This particular form is used by a musical instrument house. At the head of the form is shown the contract number, amount, date of contract and collection date, name and address of the buyer, and the name, number, and make of instrument. Below is space for a record of payments, divided as to principal and interest, with the names of the collectors. When a sale is made, a contract is made in duplicate, the original remaining in possession of the seller and the duplicate being given to the purchaser. [Illustration: Fig. 24. Ledger for Installment Accounts] =Installment Register.= All contracts are registered in numerical order, in an installment register ruled as shown in Fig. 23. One line is used for each contract, the particulars recorded being the date and number of the contract, name and address of the buyer, and the amounts to be credited to the different sales accounts. It is not necessary to list the articles sold, as a complete list will be found in the contract. The footings of the money columns are carried forward to the end of the month, when the totals are credited to the sales accounts in the general ledger. The footing of the _total_ column, which is the total of all installment sales, is posted to the _debit_ of an _installment contract_ account in the general ledger. This is a controlling account of the installment ledger accounts. =Installment Ledger.= Installment accounts necessitate a form of ledger differing from that used for ordinary accounts. The special requirement in such a ledger is space for recording a large number of payments. Fig. 24 shows a form of loose-leaf ledger sheet designed for installment accounts. [Illustration: Fig. 25. Special Cash Receipt Book for Installment Collections]