University Accounts Records

The volumes in this series provide a comprehensive record of the financial transactions of Northwestern University between 1853 and 1903, and useful information for the years 1903-1933. The information recorded in these volumes included various expenditures for salaries, fuel, etc., and receipts for tuition, rents, investments, etc., in a double entry bookkeeping format. The volumes comprising this series are of two types. There are volumes of original entry and volumes of final entry. In the original entry category are petty cash books, cash books, and journals. In the final entry category are ledgers.

Petty cash books contain a chronological listing of disbursements made by the University Treasurer. Cash books contain a complete record of all cash received and disbursed by the University. Entries are chronological and contain a brief description of the transaction. Journals contain the chronological record of all financial transactions done on account.

Ledgers contain a listing of all individual accounts of the University. The chronological record of transactions in the cash books and journals is entered in the ledgers under the account(s) to which it refers. For example, if an individual sold wood to the University there would be entries in the ledger under the individual's name and in the wood account. Accounts are entered in the ledger as they are opened. With the exception of the 1853-1859 and 1872-1881 ledgers all ledgers prior to 1903 are indexed. After 1903 the ledgers are in post binders. Each account is given an account number and the ledger is arranged in numerical order.

The original entry volumes and the final entry volumes are cross-indexed through the use of posting numbers. Each entry in a cash book or journal has the page number(s) of the appropriate account(s) in the ledger. Each entry in a ledger account has the page posting of the journal from which it came. Thus transactions can be traced in either direction. Petty cash books are not posted to the ledgers, but since they deal only with the University Treasurer's account they can be traced in that manner.

The Archives does not hold the cash books or journals for the years after 1903, hence the posting system is not manipulable after that date. The 1931-33 ledger divides the accounts into assets and liabilities and by subject within those divisions.