Ask a farmer what he spent last season. He will name three or four things.
Ask his book. It will name thirty.
That difference is where the money went.
Your head remembers the 60,000 francs the buyer counted into your hand. It does not remember 2,000 francs for transport, eleven times.
What to write
One line, every time money moves. Only four things:
- The date
- What it was
- In or Out
- How much
That is all. A 200 franc exercise book is enough.
Write every time. The small ones matter most. Those are the ones your head loses.
Write the same day. By night you have already changed the number in your head.
Write money going out too. Most farmers only write money coming in. Money going out is the part that shows where your year went.
What you get back
After one season you can answer questions you could never answer before:
- What did this farm really give me?
- Which month eats the most money?
- Do I spend more on workers, or on transport?
- Did the fertiliser bring back its own cost?
You cannot fix what you never counted.
If you have never kept one
Start today. Not next season.
Take the book. Write today’s date. Write the next thing that happens — money in or money out.
A book you start in the middle of the season is worth much more than a fine book you never start.