Knowledge that Transforms

The chief difficulties that have been encountered can be traced to the astonishing speed with which the program got under way after Congress appropriated the funds for the ATC. The result was that there was insufficient knowledge of the program and a good deal of personal inconvenience on the part of applicants. More time to permit adequate distribution of information before the men apply and accept appointment should take care of this problem. Since most of the men have been away from school work for a good number of years, they had serious difficulty in adjusting themselves to the discipline of academic life. The differences between experience backgrounds has raised difficult problems in designing courses in the area of auditing and income tax accounting. To a smaller extent, some differences in educational background have raised problems in the planning of nonaccounting and nontax courses. Probably these difficulties can be reduced by the introduction of more flexibility into the curriculum. Intensive study is now being given to the curriculum and grading questions on the basis of actual experience, in order to make all advisable changes effective before the second semester training begins. A good deal of interest in and enthusiasm for the Advanced Training Center has been present in the Internal Revenue Service and at the University of Michigan. The co-operation and assistance from both has been exceptional and very encouraging. Interest also has been demonstrated by requests for admission from persons not employed by the Internal Revenue Service; however, since there is no authorization for extending the training program beyond the Internal Revenue Service, these requests had to be refused. Under our system of self-assessment of income taxes, co-operation between the taxpayers and the representatives of the Government is essential if we are to avoid the noncompliance difficulties which have been so grave in some other countries.

Reviews the book "Income and Wealth," series I, edited by Erik Lundberg.

Reviews the book "Selected Readings in Accounting," by Mary E. Murphy.

Reviews the book "Managerial Statistics," by Kermit O. Hanson.

Reviews the book " Business Budgeting and Control," 2nd ed., by J. Brooks Heckert and James D. Wilson.

This article focuses on the Accounting Teachers' Library, School of Business Administration, University of North Carolina. The graduate class in Accounting Systems included in its accounting exhibit for the dedication of the new buildings on May 23, 1953, an "Accounting Teachers' Library" of approximately 200 books and pamphlets, most of them recent editions, in accounting and related fields. This Library was on display at the annual convention of the American Accounting Association last September. The books were selected by Alton G. Sadler, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina, and were arranged for publication by Kenneth F. Easter, an M.B.A. Service Scholar. The library includes books like "accounting Teacher's Guide," "The Impact of Budgets on People," Effective Communication in Business," "Accounting Fundamentals" 2nd. ed., "Textile Accounting," and "Cost Accounting."

Reviews the book "Economic Fluctuations," by Maurice W. Lee.

Reviews the book "Federal Taxation--Current Law and Practice," edited by Stanley S. Surrey and William C. Warren

Reviews the book "1955 U.S. Master Tax Guide."

This article focuses on problems in experimenting with the application of statistical techniques in auditing. In the first section of an article "Inadequacy of Some Experiments in the Past," published in the 1954 issue of the journal "Accounting Review," certain sample checks have been listed. The comment is that the reason for their lack of significance is that the experiments do not establish the relevance to the purpose of the audit, etc. This approach of working with an isolated phase of an audit was probably followed because it is much simpler than an attempt to tackle the audit as a whole. These statements indicate a misunderstanding of what was actually done. In the case of the a report the audit as a whole for the municipality was well established over a period of ten years before the case studies were begun. The purpose behind the report was to indicate how cases do occur during an audit where samples as a basis for judgment are both adequate and efficient. A report of this character should clarify something relative to the use of statistical methods in auditing.