Hi Jean,

Many thanks; that all sounds very plausible and I am most grateful for the explanation, but I am of the opinion, to quote a colleague of mine of many years ago, cousins "it should not be allowed" !!

I worked for a firm of accountants for a time, and our biggest nightmare was farm accounts. With most businesses, starting stock plus purchases - sales = closing stock. You can check the figures to one another. With livestock it is a bit different, and a very junior colleague was attempting a livestock reconciliation, and it was clear he was in trouble. Finally one of our girls, who had worked on a farm, asked him what was up.

He explained, "They have 500 sheep; They buy 100 sheep, so that is 600 sheep, they sell 300 sheep so that is 300 but that have 350".
The young lady looked at him for a moment, and said sweetly, "They do breed, you know". He stared at her, "It should not be allowed, I cannot do a reconciliation if they do this".

Looking at the rules on cousins, I know exactly how he felt.

Many many thanks for making it much clearer

Robert