Text 6 hryvnya

Since Ukraine became independent its government has pledged to introduce a new currency - the hryvnya - to replace the "coupon", a paper currency that has served as a temporary medium of exchange. This pledge became more concrete, when the country passed its first post-Soviet constitution, a document which, among other things, mandated the hryvnya introduction. This mandate was fulfilled during the first half of September 1996 when the National Bank of Ukraine began issuance of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 hryvnya denominations, and coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopecks.

To protect the new currency from counterfeiting and to enable people to distinguish the genuine article from a fake, the NBU has installed the following protective devices on hryvnya banknotes:

1. Water marks - transparent lines showing Ukraine's state emblem, the trident - which are distributed evenly over the banknote and can be seen against the light. (1,2, 5, 10, 20 banknotes).

2. Water marks - showing the portrait on a white field in transparent lines which repeat the portrait shown on the face of the banknote and can be seen against the light. (50s, 100s).

3. Protective band - a vertical dark stripe 0.8 mm wide, which can be seen against the light. The word "УКРАЇНА" will be visible through a magnifying glass. (50s, 100s).

4. Microtext - words or numerals that are shown repeatedly and can be seen through a magnifying glass. (Is, 2s, 5s, 10s, 50s, 100s).

5. Overlapping picture - pictures that are placed at the same place on the either side of a banknote and which superimpose exactly when seen against a light source. (50s, 100s).

6. Relief elements—palpable elements on the banknote's surface. (2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, 100s.)

7. Help for the blind—a relief element placed in the lower left corner of a banknote, which can be felt by the finger tips and varies depending on the banknote's denomination. (50s, 100s.)

K. Coded drawing—a drawing which changes depending on the viewing angle. (2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, 100s.)

Text 7 bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is an essential accounting tool. A small business or company may employ only one bookkeeper, who records all of the financial data by hand; large organizations may employ many bookkeepers, who use electronic and mechanical equipment for a large part of their work. Each organization has its own bookkeeping requirements, but all systems operate on the same basic principles. The bookkeepers themselves must be accurate, good in math, and meticulous; that is, they must be very careful to record each detail in its proper place.

About 3,000 B.C., the Sumerians, the Egyptians, and other peoples of the Middle East developed the first known business records. The results of tax collections, farming harvests, and the transactions of merchants were recorded by means of written numbers. The Romans, too, were prolific keepers of records. Indeed, Roman numerals were used in many parts of Europe until the fifteenth century A.D. The stimulus for modern bookkeeping came with the introduction of Arabic, or Hindu-Arabic, numerals and the decimal system in the twelfth century A.D. Most people today use Arabic numerals.

The two basic systems of bookkeeping are double-entry and single-entry. The double-entry method was perfected by the merchants of Venice during the fifteenth century and is still used today. The basic principle of double-entry bookkeeping is that every transaction has a twofold effect. In other words, a value is received and a value is yielded or parted with. Both effects, which are equal in amount, must be entered completely in the bookkeeping records.

An account is a record of the financial transactions that concern one item or a group of similar items. The account includes categories of financial data for each area of interest during a specific period: the value at the beginning of a period, changes in value during the same period, and the value at the end of a period. The broad areas of interest can be labeled assets, liabilities, and net worth. Income and expense accounts are totaled at regular intervals, and the resulting profit or loss is posted to a capital account.