Newspapers / The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, … / Oct. 7, 1916, edition 1 / Page 2
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1 $ 'A : ,V.'v ''".,i-i.V h - If IF IS VALUE OF: THE IN THE mi p (By-Harold Dudley Greeley, LL. , C. P. rors. The modern public accountant A Walton School of Commerce.) I is a product of the demand for ef In a recent address before the Ohio j fective service in and by business. Bankers Association, Edward Hurley, 'His work differs radically from that Chairman of the Federal Trade Com-. of the bookkeeper and the proper per- mission, made certain significant state- ments which deserve the thoughtful attention of every forward looking man and woman in the country.. Re ferring to indutsrial changes in Eu- rope, effected almost within earshot of battle, he aptly characterized the the new dominion in each of the France, formally the land of highly individualized production, " now lacks ' men and is rapidly developing co-operative, highly systematized produc ? tiom " England has shaken off her con servatism and become awake. 'She has made "thirty years of industrial progress in thirty months." Germany has further developed her former in dustrial effectiveness and after the war, victorious or defeated, she will emerge still more commercially power ful. All this concerns us very deeply. We must check our waste and develop our resources, material and human. We must extend our banks abroad in South America, in Africa, in the Ori ent, in the Levant. We must per fect our domestic business. And the first definite act in that direction is'iation of system or procedures for re- the acquisition of exact knowledge of every fundamental step and process in those businesses. The Federal Trade Commission is offering substantial assistance In this quest for exact information. It has prepared for general distribution two pamphlets covering the essential fea tures of cost accounting, one for man ufacturers and one for the' merchants. It is co-operative with trade associa tions in the endeavor to .establish sound accounting methods leading to a basic system for each industry. It is trying to evolve a scientific scheme of calculating depreciation in various lines of business. It is encouraging public accountants to work with it. Among business men in the United States there s still much misinforma tion concerning the public accountant and his -work? This Is due In 'part to the fact that in this country thev pub lic: accountant was almost unknown thirty years ago. With few excep tions, public accountants were expert bookkeepers who were able to pre pare, the .usuaLformalvsUtemehts and to i search.1 intelligently for "clerical ef- I 6 . .... 12th liiifiEM S!.' T OD AmrSeries 12ttiL - U DIRECTORS: Ueorge Honnet J. S. EL LI 'Mathews W .WSoye Linwoba D. Latta J. BRIce Ernest S. Bulluck 1 ho. J. C f III: . v.--i;R-.-.. as a result of careless diet .::.---.-r.A. - of neglect of tke Stomacliy Liver anol ;Bels?ak a ckange immediatelui Do not deprive tjx Lpdy of tke proper nouriskment and stamina needed to maintain kealtL arid sfcrengtK IJelp tke digestion, aid nature in keeping tke liver and Low els regular witk tke assists HOSTETTERrS STOMACH it is excellent for POOR APPETITE INDIGESTION NAUSrArCRAMPS - J CONSTlrfATroff J: AND MALARIA j formance of his function is so import j ant in the adjustment ana aaministra tion of business relations that the public should be more accurately in-l FsTvmr4 tAnnamintr tna now nrntoccmn formed concerning the new profession . of which he is a member, ! Accountancy has been defined as the nrofession which has to do with the I recording, presenting and verifying of 1 . facts concerning the acquisition, con- servation and transfer of values. This definition, like all other exact defini - tions, needs considerable elaboration n BUSINESS WORLD I taiveonyey-much - Pf interest to- tb.eimportant, . , v -. " , eeueiai iuiuirvr wuu we. 10 lurow . the profession and its alms and meth-1 OdS. It furnishes, however, a logical and convenient classification of the work of accountancy by dividing into three main divisions: that of record ing, that of presenting "and that of verifying transactions concerning money values. The work of the accountant, so far as it concerns the recording of finan cial facts may be roughly divided in to two divisions: first, that relating to the current entries; and secona, that concerning the designing and instal cording financial facts in the future. Considering first the accountant's contact with the recording currently of financial facts it may be stated that ordinary and usual facts can be prop erly recorded by a bookkeeper with out the .aid of an accountant if the sys tem of accounts which the bookkeeper is using is adequate. Unusual and peculiar financial transactions are sometimes very diffi cult' to record so that their exact na ture will be apparent. It is necessary sp to record them that the rights of ail parties , involved therein may be accurately determined from the evi dence of the entries. This need is of : particular importance in partner ship accounting, where each partner is bound by the entries made in the part nership books." But it is also of great importance.. iu the records of the sole proprietorship and. the corporation, ' The second part of the accountant's work in connection with recording fin ancial transactions, that of the design ing and installing systems and proced ures for future.;, transactions, coyer three principal lines of activity. The" William Horace D. Springer E. Cobber Wesiell HiBletKenthal Johil R. Murchison . (first one provides a system of kccouit . Keeping waicn ww w : anlndiotf I'bf cljiebttslnes; at awdesiredate janct a true xand comr. ipteUnati9n olits Income and ex- : pensss during any specinea - nnauuwi inr figpot -norfnfi Thfi SP.COnd ElVeS SBCf s ords ; which show the 'exacKcosV of each article "pr class of articles :manu I f acttrelhlrl - o wslaii5 tot organizing the human factors . in ; me business and Jor arrangirfg' the . p1' irent work'so inaHtay be 'done e .pediUottsly--an;4;.'Uitie greatest ' ec; onomy in time aiid; effort.'' ;. -V ' ,v The work : ot: the accountant ; in de signing and f installing accbuntihgsys tems has " been likened to' that of the architect. There can , no more be a stock, system of accounting guaran t4ed to work Jsmoothiy in every busi ness than' there; can be a stock plan pit building guaranteed to give satisfac tion to every occupant. There are, however, ; certain principles of what Is known as constructive accounting, which are roughly analogous to the principles applied by the. architect. The constructive accountant must be thoroughly ' familiar with these prin ciples and must have a wide acquaint ance with practical expedients in the way of books, 'ruling of forms, office short-cuts and the like, which will principles of any case on which he may "be engaged. For example, he must know the use and limitation- of the voucher system, which works well under certain conditions and which never fails to be unsatisfactory under other conditions. The work of designing and install ing cost system is usually done for manufacturing concerns which are obliged to sell their products at a low figure as will insure a living nrnfit' Thfi nrlnclnles of cost account ing, however, are applicable to anywork is nt that of daily routine re kind of business enterprise, and the'cord'nS of day transactions. Such a successful business man, whatever his jrk fas to the bookkeeper. The line of activity, is one who knows the accountant, whether he be engaged in facts concerning the costs of his pro-'Public Practice or in private employ, ducts so that he may know whether as comptroller or the like, must be he is making a profit or incurring' a abIs not only to record facts, but also loss on each piece of work undertak en. The work of the accountant in de signing schemes of organization and management is somewhat outside the narrow work of accounting, but it is undertaken by accountants be cause of their wide acquaintance with business organizations and their abil ity to secure facts. The problem oft en consists principally in defining the duties of the various executive and hedging each one about in such a way fte canm)t cross w?res with other executives. In this work there is re quired the highest degree of tact and also an analytical ability to determine V liai XUlAl.AWUO k7UVU.AVft J V-A ercised by each executive. In this connection the accountant is usually , called jupon to advise in the selection 'cf subordinates and a knowledge of ) the elements of character analysis is tTbe second general division ot tne accountant's work is the presenting of forts pnnpprnlnf financial transaf. tfcm,s. An accountant who has ascer- -C5 -w- - tained facts and knows them to be true has no more finished his work than has a lawyer similarly situated. The accountant is just as liable to fail through not presenting his facts in a way to make them intelligible to his client as is the lawyer who fails to convince the judge or persuade the jury. Furthermore, the accountant's report is sometimes used for publicity purposes and in this case he must make his report so clear that the or dinary man who runs may read, and if he is a wise accountant he will make it so clear that the man who reads may run If that seems advis able. Consequently, the accountant, when presenting facts, usually resorts to exhibit for schedules of figures sup plemented by comments in narrative form The arrangement of the figur es in the exhibits and schedules so that they will not be misleading is an art that is difficult to acquire. Figures may be true, but at the same time mis leading. For example, the average net profits of a business for a given period of years may be truly stated, but if the net profits had been decreas ing steadily during the period cover ed, one who relied upon the given average to estimate probable future profits would be misled. A careful ac countant would not report the ayer age in such a case without a qualify ing statement or explanation calling attention to the decreasing tendency so that no one could reasonably be misled into considering the javerage j osrEjCooifefrPres. Safe 7mM MeMM IIM::a-Bo'ss! .dQ fng power idf the -ns!neBsr5 fiM mho fliiM iUBsioii 'fteiskccoiantat'ff wont js fa; .epncaiion ; piiacia, ;vwi cerning fiaancial Vtraiisaptiois - 'thia work includes auditlngwWch may sbe aennea as . me. exammauou . ; y t cue boxKs .andijre;prdsy Itscbniliott mabe exactly .ceirila- ed, 'and speciaj Inyestlfeatfon ;Which are?pearchfe tonS culiarsetpr of view of the auditorybr Investigator is toatof aix lfmp facts: ia; order to 'aiscertiii facts Jt is nfecessary to do much moire thaii; to test ' the artMittracy;-.pf boohs and records. ;The' books are in tended . to state the financial condition of the business and the auditor must ascertain whether or not they do state it. He must learn the history of the business under " examination . of any means available to himj; The book's of acr ount do not always record the: his tory, because theyi usually! are; writ- ten by bookkeepers who d6 not havej"" Ul ",YV ' 1L. tTi.-tt ' order to prepare for tomorrow's bus- i.-t 1 maaa facts so that they are completely and unequivocally stated. . Just, as a per son untrained in writing history would fail to write a good history, so a book keeper untrained -in recording com pletely all financial facte would failto prepare a record of financial transac tions which would be complete and Mstorieally accurat?. i - In order to perform satisfactorily the three kinds of service required the accountant must have, a graining in subjects other than technical -bookkeeping and accounting. He must have a complete and exact knowledge of the work, but he should also have a knowledge of such parts o our law as concerning financial transactions and a fair understanding of the, gen eral principles of economics. , His 10 present ana veriry mem. fie musi be able to do all three things in such a way that persons untrained in the art of accountancy may have an un derstanding of and confidence in the conclusions which he draws. The demands which will be made 17th and Market Phone 70 MM COMPOUND LARD ... . . .14c lb. PURE LARD ... 19c lb. PURE ELGIN BUTTER 38c lb. MEAT .... .. .... 16c lb ROYAL COFFEE .25c lb ECONOMY COFFEE 20c lb. RUMFORD BAKING POWDER .22c lb. PIPPIN FLOUR . . .x .55c SUGAR .07c lb. ALL PRICES CORRESPONDINGLY LOW t There's more satisfaction on first grade foods than in things. For, you see, we're that we expect, sometime! to BUY FOR J-ESS AND PAY MM Dr. E: S. Bulluck, VicePres. t. - upon accountancy during the. next few yearaarfrlik Hurley vpicesthe opinion Pfv all. etu; wlien hej saysthatraexact kn edge" of ouinnances ana our indus tries ?ls i needed. Such knowledge if heedea. to" enable us to make better jiseiof i burifcommerelaltjpportunities it isneedeto' enable us to discover hf nnortWnl&es: 'It is needed to put w on a f afr cbmpetftive basis wlthi foreign ' merchants, : manufacturers, bankers and financiers. "There is ho jrellabieT way. to secure ' this knowledge' except through, careful analytical scru tiny of completeaccounts sciehtificai- The largest mercantile corporations in the world recognizes the fitness of men trained in accountancy to ccure this needed information. It is ei!g ing : such men when it . can find available and sending them thgjjfgh out this Country and abroad to y rret iness. It is not engaging bookkeep- ers. It requires much more of these seekers for- facts than mere technical skill in account keeping. It demands that they have knowledge. It insists that these men upon whose reports the policy of future business will be based shall have "the power, to appre hend and distinguish, to weigh evi dence and interpret facts, to think clearly, to confer carefully and imag ine vividly." BREAD SITUATION j HAS BEEN RELIEVED Vienna, Oct. 6 (Via London). The t bread and potato situation in Vienna which was acute three weeks ago. has been relieved. The government is now taking measures to improve fthe distribution of food so that wait ing in line will be unnecessary. The demands of the women and the cam paign carried on by the newspapers brought about the change. "Why on earth do you keep borrow ing Tooter's trombone?" asked Mr'. Miggs'1 neighbor. "You can't play it." "No," responded Mr. Miggs, "for tunately for you I cannot. And while I've got its he can't play it either. Get j me?" Exchange. 5th and Red Cross Sts. Phone 74 4 ,1 : in a small margin of profit inflated profits on doubtful not building up two stores have to run away from ! CASH. FREE DELIVERY VWG: ftecery Co. MOROSTAKEf ANOTHER :J pS STERFORWARD. (,. l-i -U1 " ;, x . ,!':' V- ' rf:Ar '" j ii.it-'" - V?4 ' ManilaOctt'76Tielatest ;-step In the! luLyanmVntotibbn) is a plan to introduce among these Mohamme dans, the art of tile, manufacture. , A number odCJapanese -.tile , makers y are to be imported ihtol the Mpro country, to settle near schools" and settlemeiits for at ' ieastixmohthsJThey will open tile makihgrschools and it is ex pected that the Mbrds will soon be able to manufacture 'roofing tiles fcsr cheaply as the work is done in Java. . r Hosiery Ladies' Holeproof Cotton months, six Pairs . , . . Ladies Silk Holeproof Hose, fully guaranteed, per pair. .1 ... . . $1.00 Men's All Silk Holeproof Sox, all colors, fully guaran teed, per pair 50c Men's Fibre Silk Holeproof Hose, all colors, fully guaranteed, 3 pairs. . . ...... . $1.00 J.W.H. Fiichs' Dept. Store "The Store of Service. Wilmington, N. C . Lumberton, N. C. Y For, These Gold Snappy Days Oil I "Irr vtr j ALUMINO AND PERFECT OIL HEATERS. We will be compelled to advance prices soon. Get them now at $3.00, $4.00, $5.00 $7.00. to $25.00 in fuel every year. Perfect Stove for all fuel and requires no change of fixtures for soft or hard coal, wood or coke. All styles and sizes here. I N. Jacobi Hardware Co. Catalogue on Application 10 and 12 So. Front Street. liRead The Business Specials Kehati &' Wright Attorneys I'liili trlbesr-use straw ahd thatch 1 is il r,.. ihg material. It Is not costly l' highly; Inflammable and is -in j,,v ' tion to ."destructive fires. Tii.; ' !.la' eliminate the tire danger ami n,J(V'111 crease. the cost of construction. "' LINES WORTH REMEMDCm .Every charitable act U .1 stone toward heavenv Henry Ward )) I'm For the best v Men's I'urni ),,,, the city see I. Shrier. Advt. n vera roof t 1 ose, guaranteed tor six $2.00 Original Vortex Heating: Stoves A hat full of cheapest coal costs 1 cent Lasts over night in the Original Vor tex Hot Blast. Guaranteed air-tight al ways. Saves you $16.00 ,The Moros, like other Heaters 7S-- it f V -V
The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 7, 1916, edition 1
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