Reviews the book "Bookkeeping and Accounting for Rural Schools," by M.E. Studebaker.

Abstract When the board of directors of a corporation declares dividends it generally makes them payable at a future date and when that date arrives the distribution to the stockholders usually is made according to the terms of the resolution. However, between the date of declaration and the time set for payment, the corporation may have reverses which leave it in such condition that conservative financial policy would decree that nothing be paid to the shareholders. It has been held that the declaration of cash dividend severs the amount from corporate funds and creates a debt on the part of the corporation in favor of its stockholders and this debt cannot be rescinded against the will of any stockholder so far as he is concerned. But if a board of directors should declare a cash dividend and make a public announcement of the fact, the courts have held that thereafter the board has no right to reconsider and rescind its action. Insolvency of the corporation occurring before payment made no difference in the obligation of the company to carry out its dividend declaration and gave the concern no right to rescind the unpaid dividend debt.

Abstract The word dividend usually refers to a distribution of corporate profits to stockholders in the form of cash. However, corporations may find it convenient or necessary to distribute their earnings in the form of property among their shareholders, and, when stockholders are few and the corporate property is readily divisible without decreasing its value there may be little, if any, objection to this method of distribution. In order to meet this need of modern business, various forms of property distributions, in addition to cash, stock, and scrip dividends, have been recognized and approved by the courts. The general rule is that when a corporation has accumulated sufficient property other than cash to justify a division among its stockholders, the directors, at their discretion, may pay dividends in specific property, if there is no statute or charter to the contrary. A corporation may make a property dividend of its own stock which has been purchased with surplus assets. A dividend of a company's own bonds is legal if it does not impair the capital stock of the concern.

Abstract This article is an attempt to state the fundamental legal principles governing the rights of holders of original shares in a corporation to subscribe when that corporation issues new or unissued stock. The general rule is that when new shares are issued for money each `holder of the original stock is entitled to a prior right to subscribe in the proportion that his shares bear to the total issue before the increase If part of the authorized capital stock of a corporation remains unissued, in the absence of a statute to the contrary, each stock- holder has a right to purchase such proportion of it, when the issuance and sale thereof are directed, as his holdings bear to the stock then outstanding. It has been held that the right to issue the remaining stock is a corporate franchise, held by the corporation in trust for the corporators, and that this right must be used for the benefit of all the shareholders. The same rule applies to the corporation which has issued and sold but part of its authorized stock and later decides to issue the unissued shares.

Abstract Accountancy instruction has to a large extent followed the lines of accounting practice and accounting practice has in general adjusted itself to changes in business practice, although at times this adjustment was made with hesitation and reluctance on the part of some accountants. During the past fifteen years, however, accountants, both public and private, have shown a larger willingness to render a more varied and more valuable service to clients and employers along the lines of interpreting the accounts. Realizing that accounting services were being extended beyond the function of recording into the field of accounting analysis and interpretation, teachers of accountancy have quite generally bent their instruction in the direction of management. Textbooks now guide students into accountancy through the doorway of business problems, commonly referred to as the balance-sheet and profit and loss statement approach. Therefore, when new methods of control are employed by management, such as fixing standards of accomplishment or forecasting operations in order to direct and coordinate all phases of a business, it is quite proper for teachers of accountancy to take notice of such methods and train future accountants to some degree at least in those problems of management that can not be solved unless the accounting records are intelligently analyzed and interpreted.

Abstract The Joint Committee on Preparation for the Accounting Profession was established early in 1931 under the auspices of the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting and the American Society of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) with the hope that a means might be found of coordinating more closely the practicing and teaching professions of accounting through a study of some of their more urgent problems; the Committee was charged with the immediate responsibility of reviewing the requirements of the profession reflected in state CPA examinations. Since the first meeting of the Committee, the advice of a good many accounting instructors and professional accountants has been sought; from these conversations have arisen the conclusions not only that a study of examinations is dependent on the larger problem of preparatory training that must precede professional life, but also that preparatory training is itself dependent on the existence of adequately defined and reasonably developed professional standards.

Abstract The subject of industrial accounting may be treated from any one of three points of view. First, it may be regarded primarily as a method of making and presenting an organized record of business happenings. Secondly, it may be regarded primarily as a method of exercising control over business events; during the period from 1918 to 1925 emphasis was concentrated largely on the "budgetary" aspects of industrial accounting. Finally, it may be regarded primarily as a means of measuring the efficiency of business operations. The subject of this paper is the coordination of the "budgetary" and "standard cost" aspects of industrial accounting. The budgetary idea in industrial accounting was probably borrowed from the municipal field. Municipal expenditures are controlled under the basic rule that no moneys are to be spent except as a statutory authorization or appropriation is made in advance. These appropriations are made after a study of possible revenues; a summary of the estimates and appropriations is designated as the budget. Adopted at the beginning of the fiscal period, the budget is used to control expenditures throughout that period. At the conclusion of the period a report is made showing a comparison of the expected results with actual income and expenditures. As applied to the industrial enterprise the central objective of budgetary procedure is the exercise of control over manufacturing operations.