Reviews the book "Cost Accounting," by John J. W. Neuner.

Regardless of the ultimate position, which the National Industrial Recovery Act may occupy on the political horizon, it has already succeeded in making the business world increasingly conscious of cost accounting. There is no reason to expect that the ground gained will ever be lost and every reason to believe that through trade associations and similar organizations cost accounting will gain additional importance in the United States' national business life. Therefore it is advisable to survey the cost courses given in the universities and colleges of the country to see whether they are designed to give the student the proper training in cost accounting. Probably it is safe to say that when the instructor approaches the cost course with such an attitude, the subject continues to remain a mystery to the student. In reality the study of cost accounting is simply an expansion of the study of one of the functional groups presented in financial accounting, the manufacturing function. In cost accounting the student learns how the information, which he used in financial accounting is obtained for a manufacturing concern.

Standard costs are the natural outgrowth and development of budgetary accounting, which, curiously enough, warn first used by industry in connection with factory burden. Gathering refinements along its path, the system has reached its present stage of development in connection with manufacturing after a complete circuit of functional application. That the subject is an important one is evidenced by the fact that considerable time has been devoted to it at each of the last five annual meetings of the National Association of Cost Accountants. That it presents many controversial features is likewise apparent from even a brief study of the limited available literature, and the ultimate solutions of these problems -as the thought and effort in the field progress-will doubtless differ considerably from many of the current practices. In the next decade, unquestionably, a great impetus will be given this subject by practicing cost accountants; and university instructors in this field must be prepared not only to discuss standard costs intelligently, not only to enlighten students as to the present development of the subject, but to lead the way to scientific and practical perfection of this method of cost accounting.