Coal production costs

In the management of a coal producing business there are three departments which need and should use the information supplied by a proper accounting system, and the needs and uses of the two departments of lesser importance must give way to the needs and uses of the one of prime importance. To my mind the department of prime importance is the operating department. An operating department which does not have the proper information is absolutely at sea. The head of the operating department may know that his product is costing too much money but he cannot put his finger on the leak. The second department that needs the information which is supplied by a proper accounting and cost system is the sales department. No matter how efficient the operating department may be, all its good work will be for naught if the sales department does not know the price that it must obtain for coal in order to avoid a loss. The third department which needs the assistance of a proper accounting system is the financial department. However, this department does not need the information as promptly as the other two, and the old method of ascertaining the financial status of the business at intervals, sometimes of a year, answered the purpose satisfactorily