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82 HASKINS & SELLS November Accountancy In Germany BY E. A . KRACKE, Resident Partner, Berlin, Germany WH E N I began to revolve the topic of this paper in mind, the question of where to begin presented itself— whether with accountancy as a science or with accountancy as a profession—and the answer came naturally enough, begin at the beginning; in other words, the description of the creator explains the status of the creation. Briefly stated, the profession in Germany has not attained, either in point of the respect it commands on the part of the general public or its record of professional or technical accomplishment, the status it has reached in America. But I believe I can truthfully say that the individual members of it are aware of its shortcomings and desirous of making progress. I stress the individual members because in my view, the most serious trouble with the profession lies in the form of organization or affiliation of the organized groups engaged in active practice. By far the bulk of the practice is in the hands of corporations which are owned by, and therefore subservient to, the financial institutions of the country. This proprietary relationship, of course, robs the practitioner of that independence which is vitally necessary for professional progress; it subordinates him to the views of those in financial control of many of the country's industries, and has brought about the existing condition in which published financial reports do not command the degree of confidence that they do with us. Freedom of effective expression of thought is vitally necessary in any business relationship if progress is not to be hindered. I have a very optimistic confidence, however, in the mental calibre of the men engaged in the practice of the profession in Germany as well as of those who labor in the field of accountancy instruction. I believe that, with the example before them of what has been done here as well as in Great Britain, they will measure up to the task confronting them. Coming to the phase of the subject dealing with accountancy as a science—or perhaps it would be better to speak of it as an art, since it relates to the application of accounting principles in corporation practice—we find an interesting situation. As far as concerns the detail work, it is in the main very well done. Books are well kept and particular stress is laid on their
Object Description
Title |
Accountancy in Germany |
Author |
Kracke, Edward Augustus |
Subject |
Accounting -- Germany |
Office/Department |
Haskins & Sells. Berlin Office |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 09, no. 11 (1926 November), p. 82-86 |
Date-Issued | 1926 |
Source | Originally published by: Haskins & Sells |
Type | Text |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Libraries. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2009 |
Identifier | HS Bulletin 9-p82 |