Knowledge that Transforms

Reviews two books "Final Report," and "Taxation of Profits and Income."

This article presents a report of the Task Committee, American Accounting Association on the standards of accounting instruction. From its inception, the American Accounting Association has been concerned with accounting education. This interest has been manifested in various projects and special committee activities undertaken by the Association, alone and jointly with other groups. One of the Association's special task committee in the area of education is the Committee on Standards of Accounting Instruction. It operates in cooperation with, and as a task force of, the Joint Committee on Education. The first project of the Committee on Standards of Accounting Instruction was a questionnaire study of the undergraduate courses taken by accounting majors. The questionnaire was carefully prepared and tested before being released. It was sent to most of the colleges and universities in the U.S. , which offered a major or concentration in accounting in an undergraduate program. The study indicated that the largest school in the sample graduated 837 students in 1954 with bachelor degrees in business. It was notable that 1954 saw less than half as many accounting majors graduating as in 1950. The decline in degrees in business was considerably sharper than for all bachelor degrees. The Committee felt that course work in cost accounting is properly required by nearly all schools

Reviews the book "Supplement, No. 1, Electronics in Business--A Descriptive Reference Guide," edited by Florence A. May.

This paper summarizes the status of professional training for accountancy in Canada. Incorporated by the special act of the Federal Parliament in 1902, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants spent the first ten years of its existence competing with previously incorporated provincial institutes, which were qualifying individuals as Chartered Accountants (C.A.) across Canada. Eventually the Ontario Legislature, Canada passed a law prohibiting the use of the title C.A. by non-members of the Ontario incorporated Institute. In Ontario, the admission requirement as a student-in-accounts is Grade XIII. For advance screening purposes, the potential student must have obtained an average of third class in the three mathematics courses of Grade XIII: algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The potential student must obtain employment in the office of a practicing C.A. Each C.A. may employ a minimum of three students and the C.A. is responsible for giving practical experience and instruction. The prospective student may then apply to the Council of the Ontario Institute to be registered as a student-in-accounts. The genesis of the Commerce course in Canadian universities varies. In some institutions, the business administration program originated from the attempts of departments of economics and in other cases, the needs of the business community have led the universities to establish separate departments of business administration.

This article focuses on the views of Howard C. Green, chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, about corporate's financial reporting. He recommends that the organization should endorse an approach to the problem of corporate financial reporting that has been in existence for nearly a quarter of a century. He says that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adhered in general to the approach recommended in the joint report of the Stock Exchange and the Institute and also in the report of the Advisory Committee to the Department of Commerce. It is this approach which would have the organization adopt and extend, as indicated in his recommended proposals. It was in the Stock Exchange-Institute correspondence that the introduction of the expression "generally accepted accounting principles" was first suggested, and its meaning in that context was clearly defined though Green's statement would suggest that the fact was otherwise. On the subject of the all-inclusive income account, Green says that the president of the Institute notes a "reluctant trend" towards its adoption, and the Institute Committee on Accounting Procedure moves cautiously in this direction by recommending issuance of a combined statement of income and surplus.

Reviews the book "Corporation Accounts and Statements," by William A. Paton and William A. Paton Jr.

In this article the author comments on the matter of attracting and maintaining a supply of effective accounting teachers introduced by Tom Carroll. He mentions his doubts that lectures are the best method of teaching most of the accounting curriculum. He takes into consideration the re-examination of the badly fractionated semester-hours and quarter-hour schedules. In relation to the question of accounting curriculum of a university or college, he mentions a program of accounting instructions in a college in Iowa. He mentions that accounting students prefer to work in a wholesome atmosphere in which academic freedom is accompanied by truth in academic advertising. He criticizes the use of businessmen as members of accounting faculty in relation to the standards associated with terminal degree requirements of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. He also discusses the salary scale of accounting faculty members, mentioning the mistakes committed in this regard and that the middle range of salary scale as the section most likely to be attained by a majority of the faculty.

Reviews the book "Electronic Data Processing in Industry: A Case Book of Management Experience."

Reviews the book "Electronics in Business--A Descriptive Reference Guide," by Herbert F. Klingman.

The article describes the procedures followed for studying the reliability of sampling plans in 100 percent auditing and a summary of its results. The author explains the methods followed in the study which required the selection of an actual case consisting of a large group of accounting data. The summary of classification of errors and an application of the indicated ratio for other miscellaneous errors has been presented in Exhibit I. Errors were classified as minor and major errors which involve errors in footing and computations, among others and the misclassification of cost respectively. He enumerates the objectives of auditing and a description of the selected samples. He highlights the concept of using opportunities of error in sample selection rather than the absolute number of items actually examined and the direct consequences of using the concept. He enumerates the criterion for acceptance in auditing situations and illustrates the determination of acceptable error by calculating the cost of a complete audit and setting the maximum amount of error acceptable before resorting to a 100 percent audit. He then enumerates the general observations that can be made while determining the relative reliability of the samples studied.