Knowledge that Transforms

Abstract The article discusses the social significance of accounting and the public-interest aspect of public accounting. The author views the concept of accounting as a factor in social control. Too few men come from college with any appreciation of the relation between the accounting principles and practices which they have studied and the social consequences that may result from their application. Regulatory bodies in recent years have taken it upon themselves to determine accounting principles and practices in many cases in order to promulgate their regulatory objectives without making their social consequences clear. The question can be fairly raised as to whether the profession and the teachers have made the contribution that should be made in relating accounting policies in use to such consequences. Any consideration as to the soundness of a particular accounting policy is sterile which does not embrace the possible social consequences thereof. The theory apparently underlying the typical program in business or accounting reflects a belief that education for living and education for working can be successfully integrated throughout the four years leading to a bachelor's degree, or the five years to a master's degree. This expresses the idea that working is a part of living and living involves working.

Abstract It is not unusual for accounting teachers to stress knowledge as an important aspect of preparation for a career in professional accounting. And it is perhaps understandable that sometimes they may not show full appreciation of the existence of other factors besides technical competence. Accounting practitioners, on the other hand, often emphasize the fact that qualities other than technical competence contribute greatly to successful professional service. Perhaps they sometimes give the impression that personal factors are more important than technical preparation. In one occupation rating scale constructed from data supplied by twenty industrial and vocational psychologists, occupations of university professor, oculist, civil engineer, journalist are classified in the first category of high abstract intelligence. But no mention is made there of the certified public accountant (CPA) or his counterpart in industry, the controller. It is not necessary to assert that a CPA is the intellectual equal of an oculist, a journalist, an engineer, or a professor, in order to point out that there may be a real question here concerning the adequacy of sampling which omits an important occupation.

Abstract Reviews the book "Accounting in the Administration of Large Business Enterprises," by Charles A. Heiss.

Abstract Reviews the book "Fiscal Planning for Total War," by William Leonard Crum, John F. Fennelly and Lawrence Howard Seltzer.

Abstract In this article the author, as a CPA examiner presents information about accountants. In Great Britain and her dependencies, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants, and similar societies, are organized to promote and control the profession, and with them, naturally, the profession holds the first place of interest. But the chartered accountant holds no certificate from the state. There are any number of accounting organizations which claim to possess as high standards as those of the Institutes, and they may assert this fact to the public in a manner which would be illegal in many of the states of this country if applied to the CPA. The most important thing that a member of California state board has to have in mind is the public. Second in importance as a matter of state board concern is the person who happens to be an applicant for a CPA certificate. He has certain rights which cannot be infringed upon with impunity, and these rights may be summarized generally in the expression a fair deal.

Abstract Reviews the book "Mathematics of Business and Finance," by W. Ben Dyess and Robert O. Gilmore.

Abstract Reviews the book "The Port of New York Authority," by Erwin Wilkie Bard.

Abstract Reviews the book "War Without Inflation," by George Katona.

Abstract Reviews the book "The Impact of Federal Taxes," by Roswell Magill.

Abstract In the July 1944 issue of the journal The Accounting Review, there appeared an article concerning the correct spelling of the name of Italian mathematician Luca Paciolo. Author Alfred V. Boursy, defends the position that the correct form is "Paciolo" and not "Pacioli." He bases his argument on linguistic and philological reasons, and the text of a tablet erected by the people of Paciolo's birthplace, Sansepoicro, a small town near Arezzo in Italy. The author's philological and linguistic reasons are sound. It appears that the author's statements are open to question. Boursy takes the text of the tablet from an Italian work by writer Plinio Bariola. This book is poorly done and contains numerous factual mistakes and errors in interpretation. It should never be cited as an authority. Bariola misquotes the text of the Sansepoicro tablet. A correct version is found in writer Balduin Penndorf's German translation of the treatise on bookkeeping by Luca Paciolo. From the analysis of the evidence it clearly appears that the tablet is dedicated to Luca Pacioli, and not to Luca Paciolo as stated by Bariola and repeated, on his authority, by Boursy in the July issue of the Accounting Review.