Book reviews [1976, Vol. 3, nos.1-4]

              BOOK REVIEWS
Hans Johnson, Editor UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
Arthur Lowes Dickinson, Accounting Practice and Procedure (Re-print ed., Houston: Scholars Book Co., 1975, pp. 315, $10, $8 for educators, quantity discounts are available).
Reviewed by Jack L. Krogstad The University of Texas at Austin
Professor Sterling and the Price Waterhouse Foundation are to be commended for re-exposing Dickinson's historical classic. Ac-counting Practice and Procedure, first published in 1914, contains a comprehensive synthesis of the state of the art in the United States during the early years of the 20th century. The book's great value stems largely from the professional experience, intellectual stature, and moral commitment of its author. Dickinson's ambitious objec-tive is to compress his "twenty-five years of practice on both sides of the Atlantic" into a useful compilation of accounting principles and methods (preface). He attempts to avoid technical discussion of accounting matters yet to supply the essential theoretical reason-ing which underlies accounting principles and methods. His genuine appreciation and high respect for the accounting profession flavor the book with refreshing moral and ethical dimensions.
The introductory chapter presents a review of bookkeeping funda-mentals to provide the basis for understanding accounting prin-ciples. Chapter II gives an overview of the balance sheet. Dickin-son depicts the balance sheet as presenting financial condition in terms of present values. This statement is viewed as the cornerstone of accounting. Correspondingly, the remainder of the book is or-ganized around the balance sheet format presented in Chapter II (pp. 34-35). Chapter III, explores the nature and principles guiding preparation and presentation of the profit and loss account. This account is viewed as an important extension of the balance sheet and "true profit or loss for the period" is determined by comparison of values contained in beginning and ending balance sheets (p. 74). The detailed attention accorded profit and loss accounting is note-worthy. The format of the account presentation (pp. 64-65) is con-