Financial accounting - W T Dunbar & Sons Ltd

Dates: 1882-1988
Description: Financial accounting is the activity of processing, recording, classifying and analysing information on financial transactions between the company and third parties, and between the company and its employees.

Biographical history
The company operated a double entry bookkeeping system. Of the accounts that made up this system, the largest and most complete set of accounts that survives is from the company's funeral business. Funeral orders were taken either at head office or at one of the branch offices. Those taken at head office were recorded directly in a series of head office funeral day books (ref: FRAS 906) whereas those taken at branch offices were first recorded in the appropriate branch office funeral day book and then copied from there to the head office funeral day book. The initials of the branch office where the order was taken are recorded in the margin next to the corresponding entry in the head office day book. Branch office funeral day books survive for Montrose Terrace (ref: FRAS 919), Morningside Road (ref: FRAS 926), Great Junction Street (ref: FRAS 930), Raeburn Place (ref: FRAS 921) and a branch office beginning with the letter T (ref: FRAS 927). A separate series of indexes to the Montrose Terrace branch office funeral day books survives (ref: FRAS 918). In addition to the branch office funeral day books there are two unidentified funeral day books (ref: FRAS 928, 929). It is probable that these were created by another Edinburgh undertaking business which was acquired at some point by W T Dunbar & Sons Ltd. Each week, entries were posted from the head office day books to a series of funeral ledgers (ref: FRAS 923). An index to the accounts in the ledgers was maintained in a separate set of volumes (ref: FRAS 917). After each funeral, an invoice was sent to the family or representative of the deceased. Two examples of invoices, for 1901 and 1923, survive (ref: FRAS 925). When payment was received, the name, date and amount was recorded in a set of cash books, of which only one volume, for 1882-1889, survives (ref: FRAS 915). Entries were posted from the funeral cash books to the funeral ledgers (ref: FRAS 923). The page number of the corresponding entry in the ledger was recorded beside each entry in the cash book. Every fortnight, the amounts in the funeral day books and the funeral ledgers were added up. As part of its service, the company purchased individual burial plots on behalf of its customers. A few receipts for these purchases (ref: FRAS 913, 914) survive. The company kept another set of day books (ref: FRAS 931) in which were recorded customers' orders for carriage hire. The only other account book which survives for the carriage hire side of the business is a petrol and vehicle repairs journal (ref: FRAS 916). The company also kept a series of general ledgers but only one, for 1963-1972 (ref: FRAS 748), survivies.