Expense includes all items entering into the cost of the product or the operation of the plant, that are not included in the charge for material and labor. Expense, like labor, is properly divided into _shop expense_ and _general expense_. General expense includes the cost of all supplies and miscellaneous items of expense incurred in the operation of the plant, which cannot be charged to individual shops. Such items as heat, light, building maintenance, taxes, insurance, and depreciation belong in the classification of general expense. Any classification of expense items that is not made with reference to a specific plant, must be general; items that in one plant must be classed as general expense, are applied in others as shop expense. The item of power costs furnishes an example. In a plant equipped according to modern engineering ideas, with electrical transmission of power and each machine equipped with its own motor, an exact distribution of power costs to individual shops is a simple problem. The total cost of power for a month is divided among the several shops in proportion to the amount used by each, as shown by meters. Even the hourly cost of power for each machine can then be determined. With a shaft─and belt─driven plant the problem of distributing power costs is less simple. When power costs can be distributed accurately to departments, however, it should be done; otherwise such departments as the drafting room will be charged for power when none is used. COLLECTING COST DATA =40.= For the purpose of making the necessary summaries, complete details of all items of cost for each operation must be collected. This data supplies the foundation for all tabulations of cost statistics. The first step necessary to insure a record of the cost of manufacture of a given article is the entering of a production order, followed by the necessary shop orders, and the orders of the foremen to the workers. The details of these orders are fully described in another section. When a foreman receives a shop order, his first duty is to ascertain what material will be needed. He then orders this material from the storeroom, using a requisition as described in the discussion of systems for the stores department. On receipt of the material the quantity is checked against the foreman's copy of the requisition, which is then sent to the cost department. In the storeroom, the necessary entries are made on the stores records, after which the requisition is sent to the cost department. When the foreman is ready to assign the work, he issues work orders to his men. As explained in the discussion of labor records, the usual form for work orders is a time─card. On completion of each job, the men deposit the time─cards in the rack provided for that purpose. These are later sent to the cost department.