This article presents accounting problems which were prepared by the Board of Examiners of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and were presented as the second half of the C.P.A. examination in accounting practice on November 3, 1960. One of the questions asks to prepare a statement showing how cash will be distributed among partners by installments as it becomes available. In yet another question it asks to prepare a worksheet showing account balances per books, any adjustments one can consider necessary, and adjusted balances. Also, indicate which balance one would consider to be current, which balances noncurrent, and which balances would be shown in the stockholders' equity section of the balance sheet. The question further asks to prepare schedules of inventories, depreciation, and deferred taxes in good form. The Johnson Appliance Co. started business on January 1, 1950. Separate accounts were established for installment and cash sales, but no perpetual inventory record was maintained.
The major objectives of the American Accounting Association were stated in 1935 as the encouragement and promotion of research in accounting principles and the study of accounting as a management device, and publication of such work and improvement in methods of instruction. Maintenance or increase in the size of the membership is important for extension of the influence and prestige of the Association and for providing adequate funds to carry on its operations. The increasing size of the Association and the absence of a permanent national office structure cast a heavy burden upon the officers and committees. Consequently, it is necessary that accountants review their methods of operation and improve and streamline them. Individual members have made a substantial contribution in the area of research and publication. Some one hundred and sixteen articles, some with co-authors, and seventy-two book reviews were published in "The Accounting Review." A new and extremely attractive membership brochure was designed. Substantial credit should go to the several persons who worked on it, especially James Rosseli and Paul Walgeribach who brought it to completion for distribution late in 1960.
This article focuses on the research in management accounting by the National Association of Accountants ( NAA). NAA is best described as an educational organization in the field of management accounting. In keeping with its educational character, it recognizes a responsibility for expanding knowledge and understanding of accounting through research. It views management accounting as including all aspects of the development, presentation and interpretation of financial data for the information and guidance of management at all levels. The current research program of NAA has evolved from both experience and experiment. In its early years, emphasis in NAA research was placed upon adding to the factual information available about accounting practice of the day. Such studies took the form of surveys covering methods of accounting for manufacturing overhead, finished goods inventories, depreciation, and similar topics. That information about practice continues to be of interest is evidenced by the fact that the reports presenting findings from studies made ten to twenty years ago are still being quoted by writers on accounting.
The article presents information on essential subject matter for a one-year basic accounting course offered to non-accounting students. Accounting principles, as topics should be included in the course under consideration for understanding and interpreting with technical proficiency. Significantly among the topics not included were many which are traditionally covered in elementary texts. Work Sheets, Voucher System, Practice Set, Reversing and Alternative Adjusting Entries, Ruling and Balancing Journals and Ledgers, Admission of a Partner by Purchase of an Investment or an Investment Considering Goodwill or Bonus, Defaulted Subscriptions of Capital Stock, Treasury Stock Transactions, and Sale of Registered and Coupon Bonds: Determining Interest on Bonds Issued Between Interest Dates, Amortizing Premium or Discount. Additional research is needed to indicate the degree of coverage, chapter division, number of hours, and other pertinent details concerning the topics favored for inclusion in a basic course for non-accounting majors.
Whether determined from direct observation or from a study of authoritative statements, the present structure of accounting theory assumes an economic entity engaged in economic activities. The central purpose of accounting is to make possible the periodic matching of costs and revenues accomplishments. This concept is the nucleus of accounting theory and a benchmark that affords a fixed point of reference for accounting discussion. In the related area of behavioral relations this present core-function requires, at least in an implicit sense, the assumption that the external parties interested in accounting data are motivated to action primarily by the economic results reflected in the income reported by the business unit. In a similar manner acceptance of the present structure of accounting theory necessitates the corollary assumption that the parties who direct the activities of the business unit also are motivated primarily by the same economic results if for no other reason than the knowledge that their accomplishments will be evaluated in these terms.