"Wi' regar-rd tae advertising," he continued, "we planned it should be aboot one per cent., or $300.00. Noo, as a matter o' fact, ye hae already spent that, and will probably spend $100.00 more afore your fiscal year is oop. Your advertising will be one and one-half per cent. instead of one per cent. There's anither one-half of one per cent. gone." "Next year my advertising will again be one and one-half per cent.," I said, firmly. "All richt," said Jock, "but dinna forget that the extra one-half of one per cent. means $150.00 cold cash." "I'm quite willing to pay it," I said, and here I felt on sure ground, for I was convinced that the advertising we had done had been responsible in no small degree for our success in doing as much business as we had. "General expenses," continued Jock, ignoring my comment. "General expenses we planned should be one and one-half per cent., or $450.00, but they'll be two per cent., or $600.00. "Your rent should hae been three per cent., or $900.00. As a matter o' fact, it's $1,000.00. Depreciation was planned for one-half of one per cent., but it'll exceed that, or so I surmise from what ye tell me, so that ye might say that depreciation and rent accounts for anither one-half of one per cent. excess o' your expense allowance." "We will keep depreciation down to one-half of one per cent. nicely next year," I commented. "I will avoid some mistakes in buying that I made this year, and, besides, I will have cleaned out the remnants of the old stock which I bought from Jimmy Simpson." "On the ither hand," continued Jock, ignoring altogether what I said, "ye expected delivery costs tae be one-half of one per cent., or $150.00, whereas I dinna believe they'll exceed $100.00, so there is a wee bit saving. Salaries should hae been eleven per cent., or $3,300.00, whereas they're rather more than eleven and one-half per cent., or $3,450.00. That is where your two and one-half per cent. has departed. I'll summarize those excess expenses: Bad debts..........................................½ per cent. Advertising........................................½ per cent. General expenses ..................................½ per cent. Depreciation and rent..............................½ per cent. Salaries...........................................½ per cent. "Here's the poseetion," continued Jock. "The average mark-oop is thirty-three and one-third per cent. on stock, or twenty-five per cent. profit on sales price. Expenses were planned tae be twenty per cent. of sales, and, had that been so, ye would hae had five per cent. profit after all expenses had been paid, for yourself." I began to listen attentively. Isn't it strange how one sits up and takes notice when one's own pocketbook is in discussion? "As it is," said Jock, "expenses being twenty-two and one-half per cent., ye make only two and one-half per cent. profit, if ye do the amount o' business ye expect."