The author is glad that the presidency of the American Institute of Accountants seems to merit recognition by the American Accounting Association. He is a member of both the organizations. The Institute is the national organization of certified public accountants (CPA), primarily concerned with professional public accounting. The Association, with its academic background, emphasizes instruction and the theoretical phases of accounting. Another purpose is that of uniting the profession, advancing the interests of public accountants and encouraging cordial relations between them, and maintaining high standards both for the institute and for the CPA degree which is the hallmark of fitness to practice. It is the stated purpose of the institute to advance the science of accounting, and to develop and improve accountancy education. Accountability and financial planning and control are parts of service to management. Accountants have demonstrated a considerable degree of devotion to service by voluntary and unrewarded public service.

Reviews the book "Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business."

Reviews the book "Industrial Accounting," by Samuel Waldo Specthrie.

Reviews the book "The Control and Valuation of Inventories."

The article comments on the paper "An Introduction to Corporate Accounting Standards," by W.A. Paton and A.C. Littleton. The work attempts to build a coherent structure on a philosophical foundation, rather than to discover any coherence in the field of accounting as it is. This savors of thirteenth century science, when conclusions were derived from the application of logic to classical preconceptions, and when recourse to the laboratory was beneath the dignity of scientists. The predominantly deductive approach carries with it the temptation to leave out or deny what ever may conflict with conclusions. Not only does this monograph limit itself to corporation accounting of income but it seems to be mainly preoccupied with manufacturing concerns. Costs attach to products sold, of which more might be said. Contractual interest is relegated to the status of dividends, which statement is good for plenty of argument. And speaking of honest men, it seems that the authors of this monograph have a profound distrust of management, even though they emphasize that a chief purpose of accounting is to serve and represent corporate management.

Reviews the book "Foundation of Accounting," by Alfred D'Alessandro.

Reviews the book "Guide for the Study of American Social Problems."

The article presents information about the report of the 1959 Committee on Management Accounting. The 1959 Committee has directed its efforts toward an amplification of this view of the nature and significance of management accounting by stating in more definite terms the functions to be performed by accounting in a business entity organized for profit, and by a listing of the major problem areas in which management accounting is of prime importance. The role of management accounting is to provide the management of a business with analyses and evaluations to assist in the fulfillment of this basic responsibility for effectively planning and controlling profits and investments. It is a service which is oriented toward the evaluation of the financial soundness of the future operating plans and programs of the enterprise and the anticipated profit consequences of alternative courses of action. The Committee believes that a significant need exists for a better and more general awareness of the proper role of management accounting in a well-managed business.