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The paper discusses national balance sheets in the light of the proposals for their inclusion in the revised SNA. The author uses his own estimated national balance sheet of the United Kingdom as a basis for discussing the problems encountered in the compilation of national balance sheets, and the greater part of the paper is concerned with questions of valuation, classification and statistical source material. The concluding section deals briefly with the structure of the national balance sheet of the United Kingdom and compares its structure with that of the national balance sheet of the United States. Provisional national balance sheets of the United Kingdom for each of the five years 1957 to 1961 are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the impact of various groups on financial statements in Great Britain. Traditional research on financial statements emphasizes their usefulness to and impact on various parties; this article, however, emphasizes the impact of various parties on the financial statements. The development of data is affected by the conflicting interests of its suppliers, its consumers or shareholders and creditors, regulatory agencies and accounting bodies. Accordingly, their changing interests are reflected in the changing interpretation of the auditor's role.

The paper describes the training of accountants in Great Britain, first discussing the situation in England and Wales and later mentioning ways in which the Scottish training differs. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has virtual control over the admission of people into the public accounting field in those two countries. There is no separate licensing of public accountants by a government. Membership in the Institute is comparable to holding a state license to practice as a certified public accountant in this country. Members are allowed to described themselves as "chartered accountants" and to use the abbreviations F.C.A. for fellows and A.C.A. for associates. Businessmen are accustomed to seeking the services of Institute members for their professional accounting needs, and "by far the most important part of professional accounting work is carried out by chartered accountants." To become a chartered accountant one must become an articled clerk under Institute regulation and supervision for a prescribed period of years, pass examinations prepared, administered, and graded by the Institute, be accepted by the Institute council for membership.

Publication of the long-awaited report on standards of education and experience for CPAs is bound to lead to a review of the present system of professional accounting examinations in the United States. Since the accounting profession in this country is a direct descendent of the earlier development in Great Britain, a brief description of the system of examination in that country should make a useful contribution at this time. There are seven organizations of professional accountants in Great Britain which conduct their own professional examinations as a pre-requisite for admission to membership. The peculiar feature of the Institutes is their rigid reliance on the apprenticeship system. A candidate for membership must serve for five years as an articled clerk with a member who is called the principal. In the past it was customary for principals to charge a premium for the apprenticeship. The Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants was formed through the merger of a number of smaller accounting groups.

In this article the author, as a CPA examiner presents information about accountants. In Great Britain and her dependencies, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants, and similar societies, are organized to promote and control the profession, and with them, naturally, the profession holds the first place of interest. But the chartered accountant holds no certificate from the state. There are any number of accounting organizations which claim to possess as high standards as those of the Institutes, and they may assert this fact to the public in a manner which would be illegal in many of the states of this country if applied to the CPA. The most important thing that a member of California state board has to have in mind is the public. Second in importance as a matter of state board concern is the person who happens to be an applicant for a CPA certificate. He has certain rights which cannot be infringed upon with impunity, and these rights may be summarized generally in the expression a fair deal.

The article focuses on the occurrence of errors in accounting data in the U.S. and Great Britain. Major problems associated with the application of replacement accounting are discussed. It is also noted that the distinction made between replacements and additions influences profits. Accounting errors may be intertwined if an asset is considered an addition, leaving the depreciation of worn-out equipment to be ignored until the original assets are officially replaced. Nineteenth-century accounting practices are discussed. Evidence of accounting errors conflict with the concept of conservative accounting practices of the period. Evidence suggests that capital consumption costs were neglected in many cases, meaning that profits and assets were likely overstated.

This article examines some of the ways in which the work of Mark Huish, who was General Manager of the London & North Western Railway from 1846 to 1858, encouraged the development of improved techniques in railway management. Huish's personal contribution to management accounting practice deserves close investigation. The fact that he was at all concerned with matters other than those relating strictly to the operation of the trains places him above all contemporary executives in the railway industry, both in Britain and United States. In his time, the London & North Western created a regular reporting system, exemplified by Huish's own monthly reports to the Board of Directors which augmented the detailed statistical information essential to effective decision-making. Moreover, his reports on specific problems of management were not only a guide for his own company, but were often of theoretical value for the industry as a whole. Huish's experience with the London & North Western was an important chapter in both railway and business history. He had shown how the professional manager, acquainted with the details of the business, could participate in all facets of managerial control. His interests in accounting, costing, statistics, technology, and organization were all part of an important reaction to the problems of large scale business.

This article focuses on the history of the lower of cost and market rule of inventory valuation in Great Britain and the U.S. There was once a happy time when inventory was not at all important. Raymond Roover has written of medieval accounting that, because of the prevalence of venturing, inventory valuation did not constitute a problem, and medieval merchants were accustomed to open a separate account for each lot or consignment and to leave it open until everything was sold. It is not surprising therefore that there are very few references to the problem in early accounting literature. The late professor Robert Hamilton claimed in 1788 that it is much more proper to value the goods on hand in conformity to the current prices, than at prime cost, for the design of affixing any value is to point out the gain or loss, and the gain is in reality obtained so soon as the prices rise, or the loss suffered as soon as they fall. It is doubtful if the writings discussed so far have had much influence on modern accounting theory and practice. The real beginnings of modern accounting are to be found in the nineteenth century. Sometime during that century, the lower of cost and market rule appears to have become accepted as traditional.

The leaders of the accounting profession in the U.S. have frequently expressed the fear that the profession may some day be subjected to onerous statutory control. The profession in the Great Britain at the present time does practice under a more detailed statutory control than that imposed upon accountants in the U.S. This situation provides a clinical case worthy of study. The time period selected for study is that beginning in 1844 and ending with the present time. The year 1844 was selected as the beginning date because in that year the modern era of business incorporation methods came into existence, i.e., a business could be incorporated merely by a formal process of registration. That the quality of an audit of a complex set of transactions is likely to be no better than the qualifications of the auditor performing the audit would appear to be a sell-evident truism. Yet this is a quite modern concept that has emerged in comparatively recent times. Prior to 1844, the general body of proprietors tended to elect two groups of representatives. The one, designated as the managers, operated the enterprise, the other, called the auditors, ascertained that the results of the managerial activities were properly reported back to the main body of proprietors.

This article discusses various developments related to the field of accounting. In Great Britain, the Association of University Teachers of Accounting held its 1950 conference at Manchester University in September. The secretary of the Association is David Solomons of the London School of Economics. In the George Washington University, Ralph Dale Kennedy, currently head of the department of business administration, has been named head of the newly created department of accounting. In Catholic University of America, District of Columbia, Richard J. Bannon has been appointed instructor in accounting. In University of Alabama, Alabama, Richard Brewer is on leave for the current year teaching at the University of Hawaii. Lee Glover from Hawaii is teaching here on an exchange basis. At University of San Francisco, California, A. D. McNeil, director of CPA training, addressed the California Society of CPA's on the impact of accounting on government and business, at their annual meeting in San Francisco in June.

This article presents information on capital gains and losses in accounting. Capital gain has been defined as "profit upon realization of assets otherwise than in the ordinary course of business, this profit being the excess of the proceeds of realization over the cost of the property realized." Accounting makes a careful distinction between realized and unrealized capital increments, the latter generally being designated "appreciation." No matter how capital gain is defined the most significant feature of the transaction is that it does not occur in the ordinary course of business. Another peculiarity of capital gain from the accounting point of view is that it is not recognized until actually realized. The conditions and circumstances which bring about capital losses (realized or unrealized) are various. A change in price levels may be a cause. Obsolescence is frequently associated with capital losses. In the case of security investments, factors related solely to market conditions may be primarily influential. To say that capital losses are always non-recurring and outside the regular fulfillment of the particular function of a business enterprise is hardly accurate because obsolescence and many of the other risks which might result in loss of capital are always present and cannot be disassociated from the purposes of an enterprise.

The article presents information related to the field of accounting. In December, 1947, the Association of University Teachers of Accounting was formed. The Secretary advises that, until this group was formed, there existed in Great Britain no organization which was the counterpart of the American Accounting Association. The list of members is very small, by comparison, about thirty in number, but nevertheless includes virtually all university teachers of accounting in England and Scotland. At a recent meeting in Fort Worth of the Texas Association of University Instructors in Accounting, the following officers were elected President, O.J. Curry, North Texas State College; Vice-President, Charles Zlatkovitch, University of Texas; Secretary-Treasurer, Zeb B. Freeeman, Southern Methodist University. D. M. Beights served on the summer school staff at University of North Carolina, conducting a special course under joint sponsorship of the University and the North Carolina Society of Certified Public Accountants.