Knowledge that Transforms

Reviews the book "Effective Teaching: A Manual for Engineering Instructors," by Fred C. Morris.

Reviews the book "The Fundamentals of Accounting," by Donald H. Mackenzie.

Reviews the book "An Introduction to Automatic Computers; A Systems Approach to Business," by Ned Chapin.

This article presents information on the accounting. Accounting as an art, accounting as a public service, and accounting as a social force, have undergone great changes during the past four decades. The place of accounting in business was very different from the one it occupies today. In the earlier era, most people thought of accounting as an individual and personal record of accomplishment and position, designed exclusively for the enterprisers concerned. The problem of the accountant was how to best meet the needs of owners and managers. The corporation accountant was a little like an actor, playing a part for the benefit of a small and select audience. For many years, public accountants denied the necessity of a code of principles or standards, formulated by anyone. The entire business and financial community took a long time to become accustomed to the new order, which was then coming into being. The New Deal, for all the egregious follies and iniquities of its implementation, did signalize the emergence of a social conscience with respect to the conduct and reporting of business affairs.

Reviews two books "Final Report," and "Taxation of Profits and Income."

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

Reviews the book "Supplement, No. 1, Electronics in Business--A Descriptive Reference Guide," edited by Florence A. May.

This paper summarizes the status of professional training for accountancy in Canada. Incorporated by the special act of the Federal Parliament in 1902, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants spent the first ten years of its existence competing with previously incorporated provincial institutes, which were qualifying individuals as Chartered Accountants (C.A.) across Canada. Eventually the Ontario Legislature, Canada passed a law prohibiting the use of the title C.A. by non-members of the Ontario incorporated Institute. In Ontario, the admission requirement as a student-in-accounts is Grade XIII. For advance screening purposes, the potential student must have obtained an average of third class in the three mathematics courses of Grade XIII: algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The potential student must obtain employment in the office of a practicing C.A. Each C.A. may employ a minimum of three students and the C.A. is responsible for giving practical experience and instruction. The prospective student may then apply to the Council of the Ontario Institute to be registered as a student-in-accounts. The genesis of the Commerce course in Canadian universities varies. In some institutions, the business administration program originated from the attempts of departments of economics and in other cases, the needs of the business community have led the universities to establish separate departments of business administration.

This article focuses on the views of Howard C. Green, chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, about corporate's financial reporting. He recommends that the organization should endorse an approach to the problem of corporate financial reporting that has been in existence for nearly a quarter of a century. He says that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adhered in general to the approach recommended in the joint report of the Stock Exchange and the Institute and also in the report of the Advisory Committee to the Department of Commerce. It is this approach which would have the organization adopt and extend, as indicated in his recommended proposals. It was in the Stock Exchange-Institute correspondence that the introduction of the expression "generally accepted accounting principles" was first suggested, and its meaning in that context was clearly defined though Green's statement would suggest that the fact was otherwise. On the subject of the all-inclusive income account, Green says that the president of the Institute notes a "reluctant trend" towards its adoption, and the Institute Committee on Accounting Procedure moves cautiously in this direction by recommending issuance of a combined statement of income and surplus.

Reviews the book "Corporation Accounts and Statements," by William A. Paton and William A. Paton Jr.