Management advisory services;

              Management Advisory Services
BY THERON L. PARR In-Charge Accountant, Atlanta Office
Presented before the University of Alabama Chap­ter
of Beta Alpha Psi, Tuscaloosa — January 1957
INTRODUCTION
During the past few years there has been a growing interest within the accounting profession in management advisory services by CPAs and a growing demand for these services on the part of the business world. These services are not the traditional ones performed by most CPAs such as auditing, tax service, preparation of various kinds of financial and operating statements, advice on matters of accounting treatment, and so forth. Rather, they are particular and specialized services which the CPA of broad experience is qualified to perform as a result of his training and general knowledge of business operations.
COMPASS OF SERVICES
These services, however, do not include the performance of day-to-day management duties for a client nor do they indicate that the CPA may offer to manage a business for his client or make managerial decisions for him. The question of just what management services the CPA in his professional capacity may properly render for his clients has been and is being given a great deal of study within the accounting profession. The American Institute of Accountants has established a Committee on Man­agement
Services by CPAs. As a result of this Committee's studies the Institute has recently issued a booklet entitled "A Classification of Man-agement Services by CPAs." Its subject matter is described as tentative and exploratory, assembled and distributed to stimulate greater interest, thinking, and discussion in this important field.
Included in the classification are such functions as surveys of man-agement policy, organization, financing, production and production con-trol, office management, sales management, personnel policies, research and development, and comparable professional services.
This does not mean, however, that every CPA is qualified to per-form all of these services for his clients; and it is of course axiomatic that a CPA should never attempt to render a service for which he does not have the necessary knowledge and training. The CPA must constantly
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