History of the Wayne Mayhew Company: Part I -- Cost Programs;

              History of the "Wayne Mayhem
By Wayne E. Mayhew, £
-TTLFTER HIS GRADUATION from Brigham Young University in 1923,
the author worked as a junior accountant for a small firm of certified
public accountants in Salt Lake City, and in 1925 began a practice for
himself in Ogden, Utah. This practice was continued until he moved
to California in 1936. During the first few years in California he was
a partner in (1) Timpson & Mayhew, (2) Timpson, Mayhew & Briss-man,
and (3) Mayhew & Brissman & Co. Mr. Brissman retired in
1942 and the firm name was changed to Wayne Mayhew & Company
in 1943, which name was continued until the merger with Touche,
Ross, Bailey & Smart in 1954.
The Move to California — Specialization
Specialization in the field of food processing began in Utah in the
early 1930's. There were about a dozen small vegetable canners in
Utah; by 1933 nearly all of them were audit clients. The first cost ac­counting
manual was prepared in 1933 under title "Simplified Cost
Accounting for Canners." In the light of current cost finding tech­niques
this 73-page manual is, of course, obsolete; but the classification
of accounts, the functional grouping, and the format for product line
operating statements have changed very little. The primary objective
then, as now, was to furnish management with reliable and compre­hensive
accounting information regarding operating results.
Because of the very limited opportunities in Utah, and because of
an intense desire to specialize in this field, the Ogden practice was sold
to a Salt Lake City firm. All bridges were burned and the move was
made to California, which was and is the home of the largest segment
of the canning industry in the world. Paul Warnick was employed by
the firm in Utah in 1935. He remained in Utah for a time after the
sale in 1936 to help transfer the clientele to the purchasing firm. Then
he moved to California early in 1937 and became a partner in 1942.
Dale Bowen also joined the staff in California in 1937 and became a
partner in 1949. Both of these men grew up with the firm in Cali­fornia,
and were co-founders of the specialized practice in food proc­essing.
They became partners in Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart at the
time of the merger in 1954.
Two Areas of Specialization
From the very beginning of the practice in California the firm
specialized in two quite different and distinct areas: (1) in food proc­essing
and (2) farmers' cooperative marketing associations. In the
beginning food processing was limited to canners, but the practice
14 THE QUARTERLY