Reviews the book "Cases in Controllership," by Russell H. Hassler and Neil E. Harlan.

Reviews the book "Managerial Accounting, an Introduction," by Harold Bierman.

Abstract This article presents a method for the preparation of a program of priorities for cash distribution in a case of liquidation of partnerships. Widely-used currently-published accounting texts suggest several methods of setting up a priority payment program together with a schedule showing the allocation of cash in accordance with a program for proper distribution of such cash when a partnership is being liquidated by installments. The author of this article has been unable to find any record of the use of "ratio and proportion" to treat this problem, hence this paper is written to point out how such a solution is possible. It is well known that if the capital accounts are not in their profit-and-loss ratio at the time of liquidation, one partner must receive a certain amount of cash, made available from asset realization, before the other can participate in any cash distributed. By comparing one partner's capital and profit-and-loss ratio with those of the other, it is possible to determine the amount of cash one partner must receive before any cash may be distributed to the other.

Abstract The article focuses on the five-year accounting program, recommended by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. It recommended that the study of accounting be concentrated in a fifth year following a four-year undergraduate arts and sciences program. A fundamental assumption inherent in any five-year accounting program must be that the purpose of a university undergraduate program is to educate students rather than to train them. The implied objective of such a program is to place emphasis on stimulating and motivating the student to learn because education is of value per se rather than because it is a means to acquire a skill, which will provide a livelihood. The educational system in the U.S. utilizes the "course" as the mechanistic framework for imparting knowledge. Implementing the "education not training" objective requires that the content of a course be part of the fund of human knowledge, which should be acquired because of its intrinsic value. Furthermore, the ideas and concepts of such courses should be presented in an analytical and interpretive manner, which will stimulate logical and independent thought.

Abstract The article focuses on the use of visual aids in the teaching of accounting. In his article, professor J.W. Ruswinckel has explained that there were many advantages in using visual aids in the accounting classroom and there were also some important disadvantages, namely, the time required for preparing the material for photographing and binding films in glass protectors after frames were processed. In the race for competitive position in the photographic industry in the last seven years, manufacturers of cameras, projectors, screens and films have made tremendous improvements in their products. Many accounting departments offer courses in fundamentals of elementary accounting or cost accounting for engineers and other non-accounting majors. Frequently, most members of these classes are advanced students and the pace of the work can be accelerated in comparison with the speed at which the material can be presented to freshmen. The balance sheets, income and other statements of well-known corporations can be used as source material for making slides for illustrating and explaining accounting concepts and, thereby, maintaining a fast tempo in these classes.

Abstract The accounting profession is expressing much concern over the lay misunderstanding of the meaning and significance of audit reports and especially of the financial statements upon which audit opinions are expressed. Much of the misunderstanding which is causing concern arises from the use by accountants of a technical terminology, the connotations of which are not clear to lay readers of audit reports and financial statements. The evolution of the present short form audit opinion, admirably crystallized by the Committee on Auditing Procedure, has resulted in a statement which is, in most respects, masterful in its specificity in a highly compressed form. The "ultimate source or origin" of many accounting concepts is lost in the mists of antiquity. Variation in accounting methods, produces widely variant results, but still within the scope of "generally accepted accounting principles," even though fully justified by the facts of the cases, has been the source of many structures upon the accounting profession by a number of groups, notably securities analysts, bankers, governmental agencies, labor union research people and businessmen in general.

Reviews the book "Intermediate Accounting," by Arnold W. Johnson.