(1) Changing the double-entry account into a single-entry account so that the concept of bookkeeping conforms to the concept of income and expenditure of the peasant masses on the mainland; (2) Keeping separate records of money and goods, adapting to the actual situation of the majority of production teams attaching equal importance to money and goods; (3) Publishing accounts according to the needs of poor peasants and middle peasants, and keeping accounts as they are made public; (4) Simplifying accounting books and subjects; (5) Advocating bookkeeping according to original documents; (6) Striving to make accounting terms easy to understand. These regulations are the embodiment of the principle of "concise, applicable, easy to learn, easy to understand, open to account, and easy to supervise", and can be applied by ordinary rural people's communes. Of course, since the production situation of the production teams and the scale of the social teams vary from place to place, it is necessary to put forward several types of reform plans throughout the country or within a province in light of different conditions and in the light of local conditions; along with the development of the collective economy of the production teams, we should constantly improve them and gradually establish a set of accounting systems suited to the socialist collective economy on the mainland. —People's Daily
If any organization wants to run, it must have a corresponding economic foundation and material foundation to support, and there must be a corresponding system to plan and manage the economy and finance, such as the most common enterprises in modern society, there are special financial departments or accounting personnel to manage the economy, without these people and systems, the enterprise can not operate and exist normally.
But when I read so many articles on the Internet describing the period of the People's Commune, I realized that most of the articles described their own life experiences at that time based on their memories, and many people even expressed their own opinions and emotions simply to express their dissatisfaction with the collective economy, and few articles could describe in detail how the economic system of the People's Commune and the production teams of that era worked.
This is probably one of the root causes of the false impression that the finances and economics of the people's communes and the production teams are not supervised, that there are many loopholes, and that they are very easy to exploit.
I often see a lot of people on the Internet who are conclusively promoting this false impression, using their own memories and experiences as a guarantee that it is true. It is really the so-called "a lie repeated a thousand times is the truth", and now most people have taken this false impression as a historical fact.
Commune abacus accounting
The real historical situation, contrary to the stereotype of the majority of people today, according to the original historical data of the time, in order to ensure that the masses can supervise the financial and economic situation of the people's communes and production teams at any time, in the internal financial system, every mass can understand the accounts, and in the external supervision system, it is required to make the financial affairs of the production teams public, so that every mass can see the accounts.
To this end, based on some original historical materials collected, I will systematically describe how the economic system of the people's communes and production teams operated at that time from the two aspects of the internal financial system and the external supervision system, and use several typical communes and production teams as representatives, and at the same time aim to dispel erroneous stereotypes and restore historical facts.
Investigation data of the eighth production team of the Venus Brigade of Wolong Commune, Xiaogan County, Hubei Province
Bookkeeping method (internal financial system)
The account books of this team were established and registered in accordance with the Xi and requirements of the masses. It is a single-style collection and payment account, which is similar to the old-fashioned account of the past, concise and easy to understand, and easy to view. The masses said: "What we think, we hope that the accounting will be recorded, and the accounting will be recorded in the account, and we will remember it in our hearts." "This set of concise and easy-to-understand accounts has played a certain role in the team's democratic financial management work, and their bookkeeping methods have a lot of merit.
First, they focused their bookkeeping on cash receipts and payments, grain receipts and payments, and the registration of work divisions. The masses said that cash and grain are the fruits of labor, and that the division of labor is the household belongings of the members, and that they must be recorded in detail, completely, factually, and accurately.
Second, the division of things is opened, things are recorded, things are not discounted, and each account is recorded. When distributing, the money and goods are separately planned, and the calculation is uniformly distributed to the household. The masses said that if the money in kind is converted into an account, and there are physical objects in the amount of money, and there are some things converted into cash in the number of physical objects, it is not clear to figure it out, and it is easy to make mistakes.
Third, the actual receipt is actually paid, the receipt is recorded, and the payment is recorded. Record what you collect, remember what you pay, remember what you pay, record the facts, record everything, go straight to the point, and don't go to false accounts. In 1962, there were many false accounts, and the masses had opinions, and in 1963 there were nine false accounts, and in 1964 all of them were actually collected and paid.
Fourth, paragraph by paragraph, that is, the accounts are clarified paragraph by paragraph. They divided the year's cash receipts and payments into several sections according to the income from the sideline business and the time when the surplus grain was sold, and checked and verified them in each section, and after clearing a period of money, they remembered a balance of receipts and payments. Harvest the grain, deal with it as you harvest, fight it, clear it. Except for special circumstances, the correspondence with members must be settled at the end of the year and not delayed. In 1962, only one family borrowed an extra 30 yuan from the team because of illness, and it was not repaid at the end of the year. In 1963 and the fourth year of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, all the transactions of the households were cleared, and there was not a single arrears.
This set of accounts can be said to be really concise and easy to understand, and in the investigation, the investigation team found two members with a high education level to try it. They have not touched the accounts, but they can understand the set of accounts. Let them keep a few accounts, and they will do it right.
Partial ledger format for the production team
Democratic financial management system (external supervision system)
The masses and cadres of the Eighth Production Team believe that it is not enough to have only concise and easy-to-understand account books, and more importantly, it is necessary to have a set of management systems. This team has developed many good democratic financial management systems.
For cash, the method of managing the money account is adopted, the person in charge of the account does not care about the money, the person who manages the money does not use the money, and the person who uses the money is sent by the captain. When selling surplus grain on the street, the accountant takes the receipts and keeps the grain payment, and no one is allowed to take the receipts and the money. There is a strict approval system for expenses. The team committee is the master of a small amount of expenditure, and a relatively large amount of expenditure should be discussed with the masses. Therefore, most of the expenses, the masses know, accountants even want to make false accounts, and it is impossible.
With regard to grain, the method of collective management and collective supervision should be adopted. They stipulated that no one should go to the rice fields and warehouses at night; When the grain is distributed, they should come together and go together, and the seal will not be broken or the scales will not be opened until the people are all together; the warehouse should be on duty in turns, and two people should be on duty every night, and two cadres should not be on the same shift at the same time, and the seals should be handed over to others for safekeeping, and the two people assigned to each shift should be replaced every once in a while.
What this team has done most in terms of democratic financial management is the establishment of a set of inventory systems. Twice a year, the big Qing (summer harvest pre-division and annual final score), the small Qing four times, from time to time to find problems at any time to check. During the Qing Dynasty, every laborer who participated in the receipt and payment of cash and grain had to be reported by the accountant one by one. If the report is not clear, the accountant should take out the original documents and explain them clearly. Small clearance and temporary inventory shall be carried out by the masses to liquidate small leases. The liquidation team should report to the masses on the situation of the inventory and answer the questions raised by the masses. If the masses still have doubts, they will have to investigate again until the problem is thoroughly clarified.
In 1964, the work ledger was published once in January for the masses to check. In 1965, in accordance with the demands of the masses, it was changed to a sub-licensing card, which was registered every day and announced in the fields every day. The masses attach great importance to the division of work, and they look at the work and the work, and look at their own and compare with others. The saying of the masses is that "people are compared to people, households are compared, and the masses are compared to cadres." If there is a problem in the comparison, a liquidation team will be sent to clear the work. Keep the cash that is collected, and when the amount of money is large, it should also be checked frequently. After the early rice harvest in 1962, the surplus grain was sold for 160 yuan, and the masses were afraid that the cadres would embezzle it, so they had to keep it every five or six days and take out the money and count it for everyone to see.
Reform of the financial system of the production team in Heilongjiang Province (internal financial system)
A good financial system is not achieved overnight, but is the result of gradual reform. Another thing that is different from the current stereotype is that the financial system of the people's communes and production teams is not only not rigid and unchanging for a long time, as some people claim, but on the contrary, it is constantly reformed in accordance with changes in the actual situation, and one of the main purposes of the reform is to enable the masses to understand the accounts and facilitate their supervision.
Pre-reform issues
Originally, the accounting of the production teams of the rural people's communes had many defects, were quite cumbersome, and could not meet the needs of developing production, which were mainly manifested in the following aspects:
(1) There are many subjects, which are troublesome and complicated, difficult to learn and difficult to use The original accounting accounts set up many large and small accounts, with a small number of 50 or 60 accounts and a large number of 70 or 80 accounts. The accountant reflected: "When you learn, you cover your head, and when you use it, the world turns around"
(2) Income and expenditure are not connected with each other, and cannot correctly reflect the actual economic activities of the production team. For example, the retained production expenses are recorded in the two items of production expenses and stock funds of the members, and the money spent is in several expenditure items, such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline products, and fishery. In this way, when the account book is opened, not only the cadres and members do not know how much production expenses are retained, how much is spent, and how much is the balance or overspending, but also the accountants who are not very skilled in business cannot find a clue. In particular, the provident fund account only records the annual withdrawal amount, and after spending it, it is recorded in the fixed property account, and only when the fixed property is scrapped is a sum subtracted from the provident fund account, therefore, it is not possible to see the balance or overspending in the provident fund account, resulting in a false phenomenon. The member reflected: "The provident fund on the account is a 'fat man', and there is no money."
(3) There are many bookkeeping methods, which are not conducive to the democratic financial management of members The original accounting accounts use two kinds of accounting symbols (receipts and payments, loans), so that the bookkeeping methods are inconsistent with the concept of income and expenditure in daily life, and many income and expenditure matters, such as fixed property, stock seeds, forage, etc., must be recorded as paid, and income should be recorded when taken out, which makes it difficult for people to understand. Except for the accountant who understands, others can't read the account book when they open it, and the member says, "You can't play without the sage (referring to the accountant)." Cadres and members not only can't understand it, but they also can't understand it when it is announced, and the members say: "Publishing accounts is like a monk reciting scriptures, and I don't like to hear it." The cadres of the production team reflected: "If you can read the documents, but if you can't read the accounts, you have to listen to what the accountant says." ”
(4) There are many terms and conditions for accounting, what classification, correspondence, balance, subjects, etc., the masses do not understand at all, sometimes causing misunderstandings, many accountants reflect: "You can only draw a scoop according to the gourd, I don't know why." ”
In short, the original account was that there were many cumbersome philosophies and few mass views and production views. It is not conducive to production, to the supervision of the masses, and to the improvement of operation and management.
Reform of the accounting system
In order to carry out a thorough reform of the current accounts of the production teams, Heilongjiang Province carried out a pilot project in February 1965 in the Dafang Brigade of Baikui Commune, Hulan County, put forward a plan for reforming the accounts, and then held a training class attended by financial and accounting counselors and teachers specializing in finance and economics.
The financial accounts after this reform are concise, applicable, easy to learn, and easy to understand, and proceed from the proper management of funds and the development of production, from plugging loopholes and consolidating the collective economy, and from facilitating supervision by the masses.
There are "six accounts and one book", and the six accounts are: (1) cash flow account: all the cash receipts and expenditures of the production team are managed through this account, and there are ins and outs; (2) physical flow account: all the physical income and expenditure of the production team are controlled through this account; (3) Production expense account: how much production cost is left by the production team, how much is spent, how much surplus or overspending, can be fully reflected, (4) income distribution account: mainly record how much income the production team has and the results of the annual distribution of these money; (5) Special fund account: including the accumulation of provident fund, community chest, reserve grain fund, etc., how much is used, and how much is the balance or overspending; (6) Current account: including all financial transactions within and outside the team. The "One Book" is a register of fixed property, which registers the increase or decrease of fixed property. The shares invested by the members when they join the company are registered and stored separately, and are not recorded in the books.
Characteristics of the accounts after the reform
(1) There are no accounting subjects, but an account book is set up according to the nature and purpose of the funds of the production team, and the income, expenditure, balance or overexpenditure of each fund is completely and comprehensively reflected in one account.
(2) The unified accounting symbol was abolished, and the accounting column was set up according to the original appearance of the occurrence of things. The physical account is set up with warehousing, warehousing and balance. The current account has columns for lending, recovering or borrowing, and repaying. In this way, opening the ledger clearly reflects the situation of economic activity.
(3) Cancel some bookkeeping procedures such as bookkeeping vouchers, and replace them with direct bookkeeping according to the original documents.
(4) Try to avoid using accounting terms, and change to popular language according to the Xi of people's lives.
Because the new accounts have broken the old and cumbersome framework of accounting accounts in the past and have met the needs of the development of agricultural production and the mobilization of the vast number of poor and middle-aged peasant owners to manage their finances, they have been warmly welcomed by the broad masses of cadres and members of the society after the reform. It is generally believed that this is the account of the "three clears" (provident fund, production, and income distribution) and the "one real" (there are things and real property).
Zhao Changyou, the secretary of the fourth team of the Dongqing Brigade of Keshan Town Commune, said: "I have been an accountant for several years, and in the past, I couldn't tell whether the provident fund had money or not. When the seventh team of Anjia Commune in Wuchang County completed the construction of the new account and announced it to the members, Xu Lianshui, a poor farmer, said: "In the past, the announcement of the account was a duck listening to thunder, but this time I can hear it clearly, and in the future, let our housekeepers also intervene in financial management and talk." ”
"Four cards, three walls" financial disclosure system (external supervision system)
Of course, some people may say that this is all an individual and not representative of the whole. In fact, at that time, the commune had generally formed a system of "four cards, three walls", and the specific form may change with the situation in different places, but the overall trend is that the financial disclosure system of the production team is gradually popularized.
One question is that the enthusiasm of the people has been mobilized, and what kind of system should be in place so that the masses can see and manage the finances of the production teams, so as to prevent the occurrence of new economic uncertainty. In order to solve this problem, some teams mobilized the poor and middle peasants to discuss and formulate the system, and as a result, dozens or even nearly 100 articles were ordered.
At this time, the poor and middle peasants began to discuss, thinking that if the articles were too small to be controlled, and that they could not remember too much, this was not a good way.
Some teams have implemented the system of listing and announcing the work of cash, grain (including various products), and fertilizer for members (some of them are converted into labor points) according to the experience of the work points that have been implemented and have achieved relatively good results. The method of publication is to write down the income and expenditure on the card one by one, and the balance of the income and expenditure is consistent with the number kept in the hands of the custodian (or cashier), and after checking the match, the custodian will stamp the card and publish it every day for the masses to see. The cadres called the open accounts "bright hearts," and the masses called the published signs "Changqing card," "diligence and thrift card," "democracy card," and "unity card."
The Xinzhuang Brigade of the Queen's Village Commune in Changli County, Hebei Province, has persisted for two years, the Shajie Commune in Lipu County, Guangxi Province has persisted for more than a year, and the Xiaogan Special Zone in Hubei Province has begun to implement it in the whole special zone. One-third of the production teams in the Tangshan Prefecture of Hebei Province have implemented it, and 70 percent of the production teams in Zunhua and Qian'an counties have implemented it.
After the implementation of the "four cards" and "three on the wall", many production teams carried out small inspections every day, and the core leader of a production team in the Xiaogan County Qunyi Brigade privately discussed with the custodian, embezzled nine yuan of public funds, and when the accounts were announced and the cash in the hands of the custodian was counted, the custodian could not hand over the cash. Under the questioning of the masses, the team leader returned the money and made a review. The wife of the accountant of the fourth team of the Song Gezhuang Brigade in the mountains of Zunhua County, Hebei Province did not attend work one day, and the accountant assigned her a day's work, which was immediately found out by the members. The accountant made a public review and erased the over-allocated work.
The method of making accounts public has been implemented, and the bookkeeping has been carried out in a timely manner, and the wrong accounts and omissions have been found to be checked and corrected at any time, so as to truly achieve daily clearing and monthly settlement. When it comes to distribution, the accounts are clear, the reconciliation time is shortened, the allocation is made earlier, and the accounting workload is reduced. At the same time, the implementation of the principle of thrift and thrift, in the past, the expenses of the production team were the cadres in charge, and the spending of money was often not discussed with the masses, the expenditure was unreasonable, and the masses had many opinions.
The captain of the first team of the Qunyi Brigade in Xiaogan County wants to buy 3,000 catties of cake fat. The company said that there is not much money in the team, so don't buy bread and fat. Everyone took the initiative to beat the grass and solved the problem of fertilizer week. After the implementation of the "three walls" in 1964, the members of the Xinzhuang No. 2 Team of Changli County supervised the production expenditure in a timely manner, made careful calculations, and stopped the waste. As a result of this and other factors, the production expenditure of this unit in 1964 was 16.7 percent lower than that of the previous year.
At this point, I think the conclusion is clear: at that time, the financial system of the people's communes and production teams was not only not closed, but open to the members, and there was a complete system of external supervision. At the same time, the internal financial system has also been improved with the change of the actual situation, and the purpose is to make it more convenient for members to supervise.
I hope that this article of mine can provide a little help to dispel the erroneous stereotype of the collective economy and restore the historical facts.