September 28, 2010  I checked with Mr. Campbell, and just as I
thought, he knows exactly how many pieces of carrots, potatoes,
celery, peas, onions and green beans go into a can of vegetable
soup. Even after enhancing it with sea salt and macaroni, and at
a sale price of $1.00 per can, Mr. Campbell makes 15 cents net.
That's good pricing.  Ask a banker what it costs to process his
most popular account (DDA) and he'll read you a number from a
BAI or ABA manual that's ten years old. And the banker charges
his customers zero for the account. That's dumb pricing and bad
business.  I knew what cost accounting was from my study of
accounting. It made sense then, but it wasn't until I went to
work for Industrial National Bank of Rhode Island that I learned
the real impact of knowing your costs. Our holding company
consisted of 13 subsidiaries, including the largest which was
the bank. Our CEO had a simple management style. Every division
stands alone and brings home the earnings so that the holding
company stock lis