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86 HASKINS & SELLS November Book Review Bell, William H., and Powelson, John A. Auditing. (New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1924. 518 p.) In judging any technical treatise there are three main points which should receive consideration: Does it add to the existing literature on the subject or present existing material in a more satisfactory manner? Is it authoritative and reliable? Is the material adaptable to practical use? Answering these questions in relation to the book under review there is no possibility of departing from the affirmative. There is nothing extant just like it as far as the reviewer is aware. Considering the contents somewhat in reverse order, the cases, questions and suggested lesson assignments are a novelty in auditing text-books and constitute a factor which should go far in making the book useful for teaching purposes, which is one of the avowed desires of the authors. Admittedly, nothing can take the place of practical experience as a means of learning how to apply auditing principles, but cases offer as good a substitute as may be found. Of these the authors have provided nineteen covering many of the points which arise in auditing practice. The cases are supplemented with one hundred and seventy-three questions, including thirty taken from the New York C. P. A. questions on auditing set at the June, 1923, and January, 1924, examinations. Solutions to the cases and answers to the questions are to be published separately. Lest the foregoing emphasis on cases obscure that part of the book in which is discussed the principles and practice of auditing, it may be said that while generally speaking there is nothing strikingly new as to content, a certain strain of practicality runs through the whole text, giving it a touch not previously attained by authors on the subject. This undoubtedly may be ascribed to the author's up-bringing and professional experience in which he has been under the necessity of considering the practical as well as the theoretical side of auditing practice. To the same reason may be traced the professional slant which attaches to much of the exposition. The discussion may be characterized as authoritative and reliable. Born of practical experience, the author's views are sound and his arguments generally convincing; further, they are orthodox to a marked degree. The tendency to didacticism, which is strong, and properly so for the student audience, might have been relieved for practitioners by the introduction of more illustrative experiences. But, then, auditing is a serious matter. The book is subject to criticism for the brevity with which "working papers" and "reports" have been dismissed. True, the
Object Description
Title |
Book review |
Author |
Anonymous |
Subject |
Books -- Reviews |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 07, no. 11 (1924 November), p. 86-87 |
Date-Issued | 1924 |
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 7-p86 |