Abstract The advent of electronics in record-keeping and data-processing has placed the office equipment industry in the most challenging, yet potentially rewarding, role in its history. And the same thing can be said for accountants. Electronics is a new mode of transportation. Because of its tremendous speed in carrying out the errands, the electron can take one just about anywhere, statistically speaking. This revolution in office procedures and data-processing, promises to do for man's mind what the industrial revolution did for his body. By harnessing the electron, one will be able to multiply a single clerical employee's efforts many times. In a few more years American business would have been figuratively snowed under by its ever mounting volume of paperwork. At the start of the 20th century, only one man in every 40 employees was a paper worker. With pen and ink as his chief tools, this early-day clerical was able to keep up with all of the demands placed on accounting by business.

Abstract The great risks which are inherent in the oil exploration effort make desirable some organization which will spread these risks. Also conservation requirements often dictate organizations which extend beyond existing ownership patterns in a given field development. These factors give the oil venture a characteristic not found in most other ventures. The parties to the oil venture are often very unequal in terms of economic size. The great giants of the industry are found joined in ventures with small corporations, partnerships, and even individuals. This is the primary reasons that there is almost no standardization between ventures, for each situation is different from every other. This tends to create some interesting problems for the accountant who has to maintain proper records of the many, and often complicated transactions arising from the venture. However, cost is difficult to define, especially when one is dealing with used materials, so that its value is almost lost in some cases. Also, there is no uniformity of depreciation rates in the industry, so that "net book value" is meaningless. And probably most important, any effort to utilize cost would make auditing extremely difficult, since it would require the maintenance of original detail long after most companies would dispose of it.

Reviews the book "Taxation of Life Insurance," by Bertram Harnett.