Records for Managerial Analyses

Records are essential, and good records can be invaluable. Records summarize operations and allow the manager to analyze the effectiveness of resource use to formulate intelligent plans. But besides measuring success and aiding planning, records are needed to comply with tax reporting laws, to obtain credit, and to make comparisons with current goals. Records provide an organized method of taking a complete inventory. They can be used to show growth, and that is important to creditors. University extension agents can provide or recommend local sources for farm-type record books. Computer software for record keeping is readily available and useful for all types of production systems, but may especially enhance the management of more complex operations. Computers allow the handling and quick retrieval of great volumes of information.