At August 31 ??

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Besthunter

#489495 Sun, 16 Mar 08 10:08 AM

This sentence is quoted from my Account book:

The supplies account balance ON August 31 is $3,000, and the supplies on hand AT August 31 are $1,480.

=> I know what they mean by ON and AT, but can anyone tell me the grammatical rule here?

Besthunter

Joined on Wed, Jul 4 2007

Junior Member (28)

Mister Micawber

#489511 Sun, 16 Mar 08 10:46 AM

.
There is no rule at play here-- either preposition could have been used in either position. However, the writer should have been consistent. Although in general English, at is unacceptable before mention of a day or date, it enjoys this specialized use in the world of finance.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Forum Guru (19,270)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.' . 'A fabis abstineto' - Anon

Dates, Prepositions