As a beginning contractor, my first attempt at accounting was with the aid of a large checkbook called Ekonomic. It opened up to reveal checks on the left followed by a standard check register and a long columnar ledger. Whenever I wrote a check, I would fill in the check register with the payee name and amount, and add a memo noting the job name. Then I would record the amount in one of the 12 columns to the right, depending on the type of transaction. If I had written a check for lumber, for example, I filled in the amount in a column labeled Materials; I did the same with amounts for Labor, Tool
