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Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 55 Hatfield, Henry Rand. Accounting. (New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1927. 548 p.) It would indeed be with regret that one would give up such a friend as Hatfield's Modern Accounting, if it were not for the fact that Accounting, its supplanter, is written by the same author. Modern Accounting, published in 1909, was one of the earliest American contributions to accounting literature presenting the theory of accounts as distinguished from bookkeeping technic. That, eighteen years later, this volume should still maintain its high position in the literature of accounting, is sufficient evidence that the frequent reference to this work as an "accounting classic" is well merited. Accounting is, in some measure, a revision of the author's earlier book. The last two decades, however, have been so fruitful in the progress which has been made that this later volume must be considered something more than an ordinary revision. The author has extended his comments on many of the matters discussed therein and also has introduced new material in two chapters on the consolidated balance sheet and the interpretation of the balance sheet respectively. The introductory chapters on the theory of double entry bookkeeping have been omitted in the present volume. The book is not an elementary one. It does not attempt to treat the mechanics of bookkeeping. The author has presented the problems of current accounting practice in a dispassionate, rather than argu-mentative, manner. In view of the fact that there is no uniformity of opinion upon many questions, the author's purpose is, as quoted from the preface to the earlier publication, " . . . to show the existing variations rather than to attempt to formulate rigid rules. The comparative study of accounting practice will, perhaps, be a greater service to accounting science than a more dogmatic treatise." Professor Hatfield accordingly has drawn freely from current practice for his illustrations. The frequent citation of court decisions, the numerous references to other writers, European and American, and to the legal provisions of the European countries, give one the feeling that nothing has been left undone to make the work a thorough one. The tolerant attitude which Professor Hatfield exhibits toward differences of opinion is soothing when compared with arbitrary statements of others that the only correct procedure in a given instance is thus and so. The theoretical argument, as given on page 162, that depreciation might be considered a function of profits is interesting indeed, especially in the light of the efforts which have been made to eliminate this procedure in practice. As Professor Hatfield later points out, accountants are agreed that to charge off more depreciation in prosperous years and less when profits are less is improper. Chapters X , X I , and XII on profits and dividends are noteworthy indeed. The argument in favor of permitting a corporation operating wasting assets to pay Book Review
Object Description
Title |
Book review |
Author |
Anonymous |
Subject |
Books -- Reviews |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 10, no. 07 (1927 July), p. 55-56 |
Date-Issued | 1927 |
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 10-p55 |