Abstract This article presents a paper that was undertaken to examine an aspect of accounting that is currently receiving much attention, accounting controls. It is not a new topic for it seems that most of present day methods and procedures have developed to serve the purposes of control. By referring to this branch of accounting as accountability it is intended to lend the sanction of acceptance and to broaden the scope so that some of the ultimate aspects of accountability may be examined. Again let it be noted that accounting is a tool of management but that is not the sole function of accounting. The importance of maintaining the integrity of the methods and procedures required for purposes of accountability should not be overlooked in the rush to change the statements to take into account general variations in the economy. Financial statements of a business enterprise do not reflect the economic condition of the enterprise, but from these statements a skilled analyst may draw information, which will assist him in arriving at conclusions regarding the economic condition of the enterprise. Although statements do not supply all of the information necessary to form a complete picture of the economic condition of an enterprise, statements are portrayals of economic facts and activities selected and arranged to serve practical needs of interested parties.

Abstract Twenty nine universities in the U.S. offer doctoral programs that will "fit the needs of a student whose primary interest is to prepare for a career of either the teaching of accounting or research in accounting." A survey of these programs was undertaken by the Task Committee on Standards of Graduate Instruction, formed early in 1957 to succeed the Task Committee on Standards of Accounting Instruction. The article summarizes the information the committee gathered during its first year of operation. At three universities the students whose primary interest is accounting pursue their doctoral studies under the jurisdiction of the economics department. In two cases the program is jointly conducted in economics and business administration. In all other instances, the Department or School (College, Division) of Business Administration offers and administers the degree program, subject, in most instances, to general, university-wide requirements. The Committee was interested in institutional practices with respect to any student who wished to major in accounting in his doctoral program without having had the minimum course requirements for a master's degree in accounting.

Abstract This article presents a report of the Task Committee, American Accounting Association on the standards of accounting instruction. From its inception, the American Accounting Association has been concerned with accounting education. This interest has been manifested in various projects and special committee activities undertaken by the Association, alone and jointly with other groups. One of the Association's special task committee in the area of education is the Committee on Standards of Accounting Instruction. It operates in cooperation with, and as a task force of, the Joint Committee on Education. The first project of the Committee on Standards of Accounting Instruction was a questionnaire study of the undergraduate courses taken by accounting majors. The questionnaire was carefully prepared and tested before being released. It was sent to most of the colleges and universities in the U.S. , which offered a major or concentration in accounting in an undergraduate program. The study indicated that the largest school in the sample graduated 837 students in 1954 with bachelor degrees in business. It was notable that 1954 saw less than half as many accounting majors graduating as in 1950. The decline in degrees in business was considerably sharper than for all bachelor degrees. The Committee felt that course work in cost accounting is properly required by nearly all schools