The combined total of these various expense accounts is the total general expense, a part of which each productive job is to carry. As they now appear in the ledger as separate accounts, _Executive_, _Office_, _Store_, _Power_, _Yard_, _Taxes_, _Insurance_, _Printing_ and _Stationery_, _Telephone_ and _Telegraph_, _Postage_, etc., it will be seen that each account is in itself but a part of the amount to be distributed, and, to better show this combined total, these individual accounts should be closed out monthly and brought together in another account, called _General Expense Distribution_. This is done by journal entry. ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Dr. Cr. ────────┬───╥────────────────────────────────╥─────────┬─── $10,293│28 ║ General Expense Distribution ║ │ │ ║ Executive Salaries ║ │ │ ║ Insurance ║ │ │ ║ Taxes ║ │ │ ║ Depreciation ║ │ │ ║ Freight ║ │ │ ║ Express ║ │ │ ║ Cartage ║ │ │ ║ Printing and Stationery ║ │ │ ║ Telephone and Telegraph ║ │ │ ║ Traveling Expense ║ │ │ ║ Postage ║ │ │ ║ Legal ║ │ │ ║ Water ║ │ │ ║ Advertising ║ │ │ ║ Etc. ║ │ │ ║ Operating Expense Dept. A ║ │ │ ║ " B ║ │ │ ║ " C ║ │ │ ║ " D ║ │ │ ║ ║ ───────┼── │ ║ ║ $10,293│28 ────────┴───╨────────────────────────────────╨─────────┴─── These accounts are now balanced out and combined in total in the _Distribution Account_. The _Distribution Account_ is now examined to ascertain the total general expense for the same six months previously used, and the _Private Ledger_ shows it to be $67,840.00, Fig. 3. =19. Power.= While the cost of operating the power─house is unquestionably a legitimate charge to the operating expense of each department according to quantity used, it is noted that, by the journal entry just made, the cost of same is closed into _General Expense Distribution_.