Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 04 (of 10)American School of Correspondence
General
Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 04 (of 10)
American School of Correspondence
Accounting; Business; Commerce
=22.= Meetings of stockholders are, as a rule, held annually, and the
date of such meeting is usually specified in the charter. At the annual
meeting the board of directors presents, through its president or
other officer, a report of the business for the year, accompanied by a
financial statement. At this meeting the stockholders elect directors
to take the place of those whose terms of office have expired. A
stockholder may vote at stockholders' meetings either in person or by
proxy, and is entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered
in his name at the time of the meeting. Notice of a stockholders'
meeting must in all cases be mailed to each stockholder at his last
known address, a certain number of days prior to the date of the
meeting. This notice is mailed by the secretary of the company.
SALE OF STOCK BELOW PAR
=23.= Many corporations formed to carry on business of a speculative
nature find it difficult to sell stock at par. This is especially true
when the assets consist largely of patents, an undeveloped mine, or
property of a similar nature. It has become the custom for corporations
to take over such properties, issuing in payment for the same full
paid stock greatly in excess of its value. The original owners of the
property will in turn donate a certain portion of the stock to the
corporation to be sold to provide working capital. This stock then
becomes treasury stock and is offered for sale at a liberal discount.
The selling of property to a corporation at an inflated value is called
the process of watering the stock. It can only be justified when an
uncertainty exists as to the actual value of the property acquired. In
the purchase of a going business, the real value of the goodwill is
largely a matter of opinion, and the judgment of the board of directors
of a corporation making such a purchase must be considered as final.
CORPORATION BOOKKEEPING
=24.= Bookkeeping for a corporation as a record of its business
transactions with the public is not different than bookkeeping for a
single proprietorship or a partnership. There are, however, certain
necessary records peculiar to a corporation, including accounts of
a financial nature between the corporation and its stockholders.
It is with these records and accounts that we are concerned in this
discussion of corporation bookkeeping.
=25. Books Required.= The books required for corporation records are,
_Stock Certificate Book_, _Stock Transfer Book_, _Stock Ledger_,
_Minute Book_, (and in certain cases, _Installment Book_, _Stock
Register_, and _Dividend Book_). These are auxiliary books and are
known as _stock_ books.
_Stock Certificate Book._ This is a book of stock certificates, with
stubs giving full particulars of each certificate issued. When a stock
register is used, the record is posted to it from the stub, otherwise
posting is made direct from the stub to the stock ledger.
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