Reviews the book "Accounting in Action: Its Meaning for Management," by Billy E. Goetz and Frederick R. Klein.

The article focuses on the influence of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) upon the practice of auditing. The study has been confined to an examination of the liability provisions contained in the Federal Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934, the effect of governmental regulation on the accounting profession based on those acts; and an evaluation of the Commission's influence on auditing procedures, standards, certificates, and the personal conduct of accountants. The liability provisions included in the two acts were found to have been designed as precautionary measures and were not the result of auditing practices prior to 1933. Auditing standards appeared necessary to regain public confidence through the assurance that examinations by public accountants were up to a specified level of performance. Auditing standards prior to their requirement by the SEC were on an individual basis, and the need for a profession-wide adoption was apparent. A special committee appointed by the American Institute of Accountants proposed a set of standards, which was subsequently adopted. Early decisions of the Commission regarding audit certificates indicate the prevalence of faulty certificates accompanying SEC registrations.

The article focuses on an analysis of accounting skills and knowledge used by selected experienced electrical engineers in Rhode Island. In consideration of the complexity of modem industrial organization, in which engineers are employed, this study was based upon the hypothesis that professional electrical engineers do use skills and knowledge of accounting in their daily professional activities and their personal business affairs. The purpose of the study was to discover these accounting skills and knowledge areas in order to determine phases of accounting worthy of inclusion in a collegiate elementary accounting course for electrical engineers. First, a preliminary survey was made of 70 accredited collegiate electrical engineering curricula, through an examination of college catalogs, to determine the extent to which accounting courses are presently included in such curricula. Then, an outline guide of 20 basic accounting topics for use in the interviews was developed through a perusal of several collegiate elementary accounting textbooks.

The article focuses on a study on cost accounting and budgeting for state mental hospitals in the U.S. The study develops principles and procedures of accounting and budgeting for state mental hospitals. Special emphasis is given to procedures for determining departmental and functional costs and to the relationship between budget administration and control and functional cost accounting. The development of improved fiscal procedures is related to great advancement, which is being made in mental health programs. Mental disease has been recognized as a very important problem and the responsibility for caring for those afflicted will probably remain with states. Several aspects of systems in use in the several states are reviewed, and the desirable features are included in the procedures developed. It is shown that both cost accounting and the program or performance budget have been adapted to some extent by many states. Cost accounting and the program budget concept are aimed at common objectives and each is somewhat dependent on the other in the accomplishment of these objectives.

The article focuses on the commercial applications of electrical data processing equipment. The development of electronic data processing equipment has given to business the opportunity to eliminate an enormous amount of clerical work. The need for data processing equipment is clearly shown by the increasing percentage and numbers of tile working force employed in clerical operations. The thesis describes how a large percentage of this clerical work can be performed on data processing systems. Five types of clerical operations are performed by most businesses. These include payroll, inventory control, purchasing, sales order handling and general and cost accounting. The procedures required to convert these clerical operations are reviewed in detail. A program for the installation of a payroll system indicates steps to be followed in making the analysis, programming, coding and conversion for the new system. Flow charts indicate the sequence in which data are handled. The use of data processing equipment to prepare budgets is described to illustrate the interpretive operations, which can be performed on this type of equipment.

The article focuses on the thesis Concepts of Depreciation and Their Implication in Accounting Theory and Practice by Phayom Bhavilai. The purpose of this thesis is to develop an appropriate accounting concept of fixed asset depreciation in compliance with the basic accounting postulates underlying present accounting practice. Investigation has been made into various conceptions of fixed asset depreciation, which have been referred to or implied in the fields of accounting, economics, law, and engineering. Theoretical analysis and comparison of these conceptions are necessary for development of the depreciation concept, which is considered most appropriate for accounting purposes. The study involves a thorough analysis of the "cost" and "value" concepts of depreciation. Evaluation is extended to the "deferred maintenance" concept under which depreciation of fixed assets is measured by the difference between the present value of fixed property and its replacement cost new. The effect of general price level changes is considered as it influences managerial judgment in selecting the depreciation base.

The article attempts to determine how a restrictive monetary policy affected the amounts, source, and cost of funds of sales finance and small loan companies. It is limited to the period between December 31, 1948 and June 30, 1934, which includes a period before and after the restrictive monetary situation from March 1951 to June 1933. Questionnaires were sent to one hundred companies to determine quantitatively and qualitatively what effect monetary policy had on their funds. Companies were segregated into sales finance and small loan groups, and then further broken down into size groups. As analysis of each division was made, qualitative and quantitative data were integrated to determine if variations were reactions to changing monetary policy. There was no discernible limitation in the total amount of funds used by these companies as an entity, but some companies were unable to get all the funds they wanted at rates they were willing to pay. This limitation was more than offset by the fact that larger companies could obtain additional funds at all times. The only possible limitation was of an indirect nature, caused by changes in terms of credit to the consumer, which were made under the influence of monetary policy.

The article focuses on an activity concept of the business enterprise and its implications in accounting theory. Two schools of thought exist as to the nature of the accounting entity, each of which is intended to serve as an integrated framework for accounting theory and each of which has been subject to many criticisms. It is a hypothesis of this dissertation that both concepts are based on assumptions with respect to the structure and behavior of a business organization that are not in accord with facts. The first objective of the study is to examine the validity of the above hypothesis; the second is to develop a realistic concept of the business enterprise. As a substitute for traditional concepts, an activity concept of a business enterprise has been developed, which is based on the idea that a business organization is a complex system of formal and informal coordinated activities for the purpose of creation or transformation and distribution of utilities. The activity concept makes it possible to join together the view that the business enterprise is a productive economic entity and the view that it is a method of doing business for participants.

The article focuses on an evaluation of annual reports of selected industrial corporations for compliance with certain standards of accounting research bulletin number 43. The study was undertaken to determine whether standards of Accounting Research Bulletin No. 43 (ARB 43) have been sufficiently accepted by the accounting profession to constitute generally accepted accounting principles. The method of the study was the evaluation of information presented in a random sample of 261 annual reports against criteria established from selected areas in ARB 43, which included inventories, depreciation and high costs, depreciation and amortization of emergency facilities, contingency reserves, and comparative statements. A request was written to the auditor, whose opinion accompanied the statements containing apparent divergencies, asking his justification of the presentation. Divergencies most frequently found in the annual reports were the omission of full information on the valuation of inventories and the omission of comparative statements.

The article focuses on the going concern regarding the concept of accounting. Postulates of accounting, among them the going concern concept, have been characterized as habits of mind. Almost every writer who has attempted a reasonably complete exposition on accounting has stated or implied acceptance of the going concern concept. This study has set forth purposes like he nature of the going concern concept, the placing of the concept in accounting, consequences of uses of the concept and the social significance of the concept. A comprehensive version of the going concern concept entails consideration of the life of the firm, the legal and social framework surrounding the accounting entity, the productive and distributive aspects of the enterprise, the financial plans of the organization, the management of the business unit, and the proprietor's expectations. Going concern concept in accounting provides a point of view to facilitate and implement assembling, communicating, and interpreting enterprise financial information. A complete application of the going concern concept would call for a reporting of those income-generating activities, which do not appear in current conventional reports.