Knowledge that Transforms

Abstract The article presents information about various activities taking place in various universities in the U.S. Professor R.D. Swick, R.E. Strohelm and D. Thompson are leaving the staff committee of the Indiana University. Professor John G. Blocker of the University of Kansas has taken a year's leave of absence in order to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, as visiting professor of accounting. Associate professor of accounting R.D.M. Bauer in the University of Missouri is absent on leave for one year. Professor H.K Olson of the University of South Dakota has received his Certified Public Accountants (CPA) certificate recently. Professor T.W. Leland of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was re-elected as secretary-treasurer of the Texas Society of CPA's. Leland will continue as editor of the journal The Texas Accountant. Professor J.R. Taylor has accepted a position at the University of Tennessee. Professor R.K. Mautz passed the Illinois CPA examination in November 1939.

Reviews the book "Business Arithmetic for College Students," by William S. Schlauch.

Abstract Time was when accountants looked upon the balance sheet as a presentation of the current financial position of a business enterprise. They thought of the left side of the statement, when it was presented in account form, as a summary of the assets of the enterprise. It is true that they avoided the inclusion of intangibles whenever possible but they made a virtue of that just as banking institutions made a virtue of writing their buildings and physical equipment down to one dollar. In the taking of inventories the accountant insisted upon a lower-of-cost-and-market valuation and he made a virtue of that too. In an earlier period of business enterprise, balance sheets prepared upon the basis of traditional principles and techniques did show assets and liabilities and proprietorship within the limits of accuracy demanded by the business management of that time. This general character of the valuation process is not peculiar to economic valuation. The present article is not the place for a general discourse on value but it may be said in passing that all valuation involves a reconciliation, integration or adjustment of different interests.

Reviews the book "Practical Bank Credit," by Herbert V. Prochnow and Roy A. Foulke.

Reviews the book "Money and Banking," by Charles L. Prather.

Abstract The article presents accounting cases of Akron Brass Manufacturing Co. Inc. The history of the Akron Brass Manufacturing Co. Inc. presents some rather interesting features in conjunction with a very simple reorganization, the appreciation of fixed assets and a brief experience with a single, unprofitable subsidiary. The company was organized in Ohio on July 6, 1935, to take over the business of The Akron Brass Manufacturing Co. The latter had been incorporated on December 26, 1919 and continued as a going concern until July 8, 1935, when all of its assets were transferred to; and all of its liabilities assumed by, the Akron Brass Manufacturing Co. Inc. The Akron Brass Manufacturing Co. Inc. is principally engaged in the manufacture, sale and assembly of brass and alloy goods for fire and mill equipment. The company's products include nozzles, hose couplings, siphons, coupling expanders; fire hose test pumps and other fire fighting equipment. An abortive attempt to expand its activities through a wholly owned subsidiary was made in 1937. The balance sheet of the company prior to the reorganization is presented in the article.

Reviews the book "Principles of Auditing," by F.R.M. de Paula.

Abstract The problems mentioned in the paper were presented as the second half of the November 1939 C.P.A. examination prepared by the Board of Examiners of the American Institute of Accountants. The candidates were required to solve all problems in six hours. The weights were as follows: problem 1, 10 points; problem 2, 25 points; problem 3, 30 points, and problem 4, 33 points. The set of problems which, while far from an ideal C.P.A. examination, is superior to Part I of the same examination, which appeared in the December issue of the journal The Accounting Review. Unlike problem 3 of part 1, the problems of this set are clearly stated and lead to a solution without imposing on the candidate the added burden of reading the mind of the examiner.

Abstract It is the purpose of this paper to discuss some of the outstanding problems of organization and procedure in the conduct of the accounting functions of the national government above the departmental level, that is to say, of central accounting and control as distinguished from the fiscal administration of individual operating agencies. The theme of this paper is the development of improved practices, and while few citizens are interested in forms of government as such, abstracted from the results they tend to foster, significant progress toward essential improvements in practice in this field is inextricably bound up with changes in the machinery of central financial control. Present practices are the logical result of present organization. The starting point is, then, an analysis of that system. The reorganization bills before the U.S. Congress in 1938 contained sweeping proposals deigned to meet the kind of difficulties that have been noticed here: the divorce of control and audit, vesting the one in an executive agency and the other in an independent office safeguarded as the Comptroller General now is; and the establishment of a Congressional Joint Committee on Public Accounts.

Reviews the book "Municipal and Governmental Accounting," by Carl H. Chatters and Irving Tenner.