Reviews the book "Accounting for Costs of Financing," by H.S. Moffet.

Abstract The accounting concept of income as the residual of the matching of costs and revenue is one, which appears on the surface to be rather innocuous. Its application, however, is known to be a difficult but also a delusive task. The accountant not only must decide which basis of revenue recognition is appropriate for a given situation and which costs have expired and are to be matched with this batch of revenue, but he must express this matching process in terms of money. Today accountants need only turn to their daily newspapers for a constant reminder that the dollar as a measuring device is not a stable unit. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate that this limitation of the accountant's measurement of income adds to the confusion that persists in the measurement and administration of income. The almost daily statements in the press to the effect that the matching of historical costs against current revenue does not provide for the replacement of assets are indeed a truism. Certainly the accountant's measurement of income and management's use of the funds provided by revenue are truly independent activities.

Abstract Accounting standards should be orderly, systematic, and coherent; they should be in harmony with observable, objective conditions, they should be impersonal and impartial. Accountants know that laws cannot be ignored, but this does not necessarily imply that legal requirements must be given precedence in the formation of accounting standards. It is the purpose of this article to present two cases involving corporate capital stock transactions in which certain legal aspects of the transactions are considered. These cases will be discussed with a view toward establishing the extent to which legal factors are to be given precedence in their accounting presentation. Both cases concern the accounting for original issues of capital stock. Case one, however, relates to the time of issuance, whereas case two refers to the recording and reporting of the consideration received. The formidable task of developing accounting standards is being accomplished by the accounting profession to the vigorous accompaniment of criticism both within and without the profession. The extent to which legal requirements must be considered is one of the loudest instruments in this accompaniment.

Abstract Reviews the book "Embezzlement and Internal Control," by Albert K. Keller.

Abstract The present Standards Rating Committee of American Accounting Association was appointed in 1949 for a period of five years upon the authorization of the Executive Committee of the Association Committee. The present committee was officially constituted and began functioning on January 1, 1949. Meetings of the committee have been held at intervals throughout the last five years. After extended discussion and rewriting over a period of two years this committee published an interim report in the January 1951, issue of Accounting Review. Full publicity was given to this interim report; suggestions, comments, and criticisms were solicited. Several members of the Association and other interested persons responded to the invitation. This committee appreciates the excellent suggestions made by correspondents. Their recommendations have been reviewed carefully along with the further thinking of the committee members themselves. After further weighing for about a year the problems confronting the committee, it was decided in early 1953 to prepare a final report in order to bring its current activities to a conclusion. Following this decision the committee has quite actively pursued its objectives and the present report represents the culmination of its efforts for the past five years.

Abstract 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