The article discusses the importance of good communications and cooperation between the academic and practicing branches of the accounting profession. Over the years it has become increasingly apparent that good communications and cooperation between the academic and practicing branches of the accounting profession are vitally important to the continued satisfactory development of the accounting profession. Over the years the atmosphere has continued to change for the better. Cooperation between teachers and practitioners has extended over a wide front both on an individual and an institutional basis. The accounting profession is going through an unusual and difficult period. As in other areas of our society, basic assumptions are being challenged. The adverse publicity-whether well founded or not which was directed at the profession several years ago created a good deal of uneasiness both within and without the profession. Relations between teachers and practitioners have vastly improved in the past thirty years. But they can improve more. There could be more frequent personal association between teachers and practitioners at the local level-although in some states this already is happening.

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of reported changes in the consistent application of generally accepted accounting principles and practices, the nature of such changes, and their materiality. For a sample of 300 corporations chosen from Fortune's 500 and the New York Stock Exchange, changes in the principles of consolidation, the methods of computing depredation, and valuing inventory were found to be the chief reasons for auditors' qualifications during the nine years, 1955-1963. In general, there was relatively little concentration of qualifications for consistency among companies, industries, or CPA firms--either in total number, category, or year. As might be expected, more of the changes resulted in increasing reported net income than in decreasing it. The striking finding, resulting from the examination of the materiality of the reported changes was the predominance of those with an immaterial effect on net income. Possible "obvious" explanations were examined and found to be unsatisfactory. In response to Professor McCosh's admonition, it would appear from the data reported above that, if anything, accountants are overly zealous in disclosing consistency changes though they may not be as diligent in reporting the effects on net income. But, can readers of financial statements assume that this standard of reporting changes with little or no effect on net income is held by all accountants and is applied uniformly? This question will require further study.

The purpose of this article is to explore the applicability or non-applicability of tax allocation procedures to financial statements prepared on the basis of either current cost or price-level adjusted figures. Both current cost and price-level adjusted financial statements offer the balance sheet a position of more prominence than does the present-day historical cost approach. In the area of tax allocation, present practice and present theory are in basic agreement. Tax allocation can and should be rationally applied to historical cost statements, current cost statements or price-level adjusted statements. One weakness of the tax deferral approach is that it does not cover enough situations. For example, take the fairly common situation where a partnership incorporates, bringing in new investors at the same time. The books will often show assets at agreed-upon values at the date of incorporation, and these may differ sharply from the tax basis of the same assets. One type of objection to present practice points out that historic costs relate to the time periods in which assets were acquired, but are not meaningful expressions of value at later points in time. In contrast to historical cost, "the current cost of an asset is the sum of the current costs of the contained inputs."

Reviews the book, "Management Systems," by Thomas B. Glans, Burton Grad, David Holstein, William E. Meyers and Richard N. Schmidt.

Reviews the book, "Government Accounting in Australia," edited by W.R.C. Jay and R.L. Mathews.

Reviews the book "Managerial Budgeting for Profit Improvement," by Walter R. Bunge.

Reviews the book "Procedures in Federal Tax Controversies," by Marvin Joseph Garbis and Robert L. Frome.

During the past few years, a shortage of business systems personnel has developed a shortage at all levels, including operating personnel, programmers, analysts, and managers. This article presents a case history of how the problem emerged in Hawaii, how it was studied, and how a promising solution was developed. The solution, a university course designed for accounting students which utilizes a field-trip format, is presented as an effective method for gaining momentum in business systems education. It is only through strengthened systems education at the college level that the demand for systems practitioners can be ultimately met. To attack the problem of inadequate systems education, late in 1967 the University of Hawaii, local business firms, and several professional societies pooled their resources and efforts. To the educators, business managers, and officers of the participating societies it became obvious that systems education is particularly responsive to cooperative effort, and that the course which evolved could be of interest to many members of the systems profession. Improving the supply of college trained systems recruits is the only long-term solution to the imbalance of personnel supply and demand in systems work. The current dilemma, in Hawaii, involves both inadequate educational offerings and an absence of student interest. Analysis of student needs and abilities resulted in the development of a field-trip format for the introductory systems course. Systems practitioners agreed to take part. The approach proved highly effective for learning, for recruiting students to the promising area of systems and for utilizing valuable field education resources.

Reviews the book "Business Data Processing," by Elias M. Awad.

Reviews the book, "Statistical Sampling for Auditing and Accounting Decisions: A Simulation," by Robert W. Vanesse.