Abstract Today no one is permitted to practice accounting as a profession, which includes the right to represent client or employer on accounting matters before any public body or to hold himself out as a public accountant, who has not been licensed by a state board of accountancy. There are some 262,000 individuals who have secured this license which goes by the old initials of C.P.A. but stands for Certified Professional Accountant and not Certified Public Accountant. This designation appears to have been a compromise as a result of the non-C.P.A. group's aggressive action in attempting to force all types of accounting practice under the licensing power of the states. Auditing as a technique and as a profession had reached the age of maturity. Auditing standards which had been discussed profusely and followed about as each practitioner pleased, in the middle of the 20th century, had become rules of practice any deviation from which was grounds for prompt disciplining of the offender. Inasmuch as the public had never fully understood how the C.P.A. could be independent on one engagement such as an audit, and yet serve in the capacity of a solicitor in a tax engagement or a consultant on matters of management services, every report must now state whether the engagement was conducted on the basis of that of an independent accountant or otherwise.

Abstract The article focuses on the income statement approach in auditing. It is not a complete abandonment of the audit of the balance sheet but only a shift in the direction of the emphasis. Instead of auditing the balance sheet with the income statement as a by-product, the process is reversed, that is, the income statement should be audited with the balance sheet as a by-product. Much has been written about the income statement. A survey of contemporary accounting literature indicates that this subject is a central feature dominating the writings of practitioners as well as teachers of accounting. Perhaps, this is a belated recognition of the fact that the value of a business is dependent mainly upon its capacity to generate income. But this concern over profits seems to be as old as the art of bookkeeping itself. Even the earliest financial statements of Florentine merchants in the 14th century were used to determine profits of the then flourishing partnerships. In the 16th century, a so-called balancing account was developed, wherein real accounts were closed in a manner similar to the closing of revenue and expense into a profit and loss account.

Abstract This article presents views of the author on information on managerial accounting twenty years from now as of January 1954. According to the author managerial accounting activities which now, as then, strike him as most likely to be productive include increased emphasis on what might be called "pre-accounting" studies-the preparation of budgets, the establishment of standards, etc. Secondly, greater attention to intensive primary analysis of costs and expenses, to provide more finely subdivided and carefully shaped "building blocks" for subsequent cost determination and performance evaluation. Then, closer study of the relationship between costs and prices, with particular attention to the distinction between recovery and out- of-pocket costs and contributions toward general overhead expenses. Finally, improved arrangement of financial statements, to clarify important internal and inter-statement relationships.

Reviews the book "Fundamentals of Corporation Finance," by Joseph F. Bradley.

Abstract In order to operate an enterprise well, management needs to plan future operations and maintain close control over materials and activities. One of the most useful techniques of planning is forward budgeting. Its figures are based on known intentions decided by high-level authority and on knowledge of the results of prior activities that grew out of prior planning. This necessary knowledge de- rives from detailed records (i.e. accounting) periodically compacted into summary reports. Of the many techniques of managerial control, several that are essential include to set up an operating organization and carefully provide for subdivided duties. It may be helpful if production standards are established as a guide to workers and supervisors. Secondly, provide trained personnel, plus suitable supervision, frequent inspection, etc. Although, present day accountants may justly take pride in the intricate techniques and the professional status of our independent auditors. Yet they can well afford now and then to acknowledge a large intellectual debt to generation after generation of unknown contributors to this art.