Accountancy and prosperity

              ATLANTA PHILADELPHIA
BALTIMORE HASKINS & SELLS PITTSBURGH
BIRMINGHAM
BOSTON PORTLAND
PROVIDENCE
BROOKLYN SAINT LOUIS
BUFFALO
CHARLOTTE C E R T I F I E D P U B L I C A C C O U N T A N T S SALT LAKE CITY
SAN DIEGO
CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO
CINCINNATI SEATTLE
CLEVELAND BULLETIN TULSA
DALLAS WATERTOWN
DENVER DETROIT BERLIN
JACKSONVILLE LONDON
KANSAS CITY PARIS
LOS ANGELES SHANGHAI
MINNEAPOLIS
NEWARK E X E C U T I V E O F F I C ES HAVANA
NEW ORLEANS 30 BROAD STREET. NEW YORK
MEXICO CITY
NEW YORK
MONTREAL
VOL. IX NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER. 1926 No. 9
Accountancy and Prosperity
THE average person, uninformed in the
matter, usually concludes that all
times are good times to public accountants.
"Is it not true," he asks, "that you open
the books of new concerns, devise and
install systems for them, audit their ac­counts,
prepare their tax returns, give them
counsel and advice, examine their accounts
in connection with bank loans and security
issues, conduct the accounting incident
to their entry into consolidation, and, in
addition to all the foregoing, attend them
in receivership and liquidation?"
Sentimentally, accounting for receiver­ship
and bankruptcy has nowhere near the
interest attendant upon new financing
which is characteristic of prosperous times.
Financial wreckage is anything but pleas­ant
to behold. Assisting at the last rites is
a somewhat depressing occupation, even
though professional pride in doing a piece
of work well may offset somewhat the
effect of the sorrowful activities.
Attendance at the inception of an enter­prise
begun under auspicious circumstances,
on the other hand, is a distinct joy. The
accountant works, albeit oftentimes at
breakneck speed, but nevertheless in an
atmosphere of cheerfulness and hope.
There is a certain pleasure in the execution
of a successful system engagement; or the
performance of an audit when the account­ant
is able to report a healthy financial
condition. He leaves his work with a
feeling of gratification that he has been
able to contribute to the well-being of the
enterprise; that the management is pleased
with his efforts.
Whether accountants prefer prosperity
for reasons sentimental or otherwise, the
plain truth is that there is nothing for them
in depression that may be compared with
what they enjoy in times of plenty. Lean
years for business mean lean years for
accountancy. The accountant, therefore,
by nature might well be a prosperity en­thusiast.
But prosperity seems to depend on keep­ing
business on an even keel. Capital in­vestment,
physical capacity, working
forces, must be scaled to production re­quirements.
Production must be tempered
to demand.
While there is no machinery in this
country for controlling business in the
aggregate, or for regulating the economic
forces influencing the business cycle, each
enterprise kept in balance contributes
that much to the general situation.
The accountant, by extracting and pre­senting
information the use of which by
entrepreneurs tends to maintain the equi­librium
of individual enterprises, con­tributes
to the common good of business.
Thus, the accountant may have a useful
role through which, whether his motive is
selfish or unselfish, he may play a part
which makes for continued good times.