Page 1 |
Previous | 1 of 4 | Next |
|
This page
All
Subset
|
50 HASKINS & SELLS July T H E demands upon the in-charge ac-countant are manifold and exacting. To meet them he must needs have all the ideal qualities of the junior and senior assistants, together with certain crowning characteristics of ability and refinement. It is amusing at times to hear the uninitiated applicant for a position on the staff prophesy as to the brief length of time he will require before becoming capable of taking charge of engagements. He is invariably sure it will not take him long; only long enough to learn how the firm wishes things done. Some of the men who have been connected with the firm for several years will testify that the passing on of the firm's technique may not be accomplished with ease and speed. It is a process and a slow one. The accountant who is anxious to learn gets one thing today: another tomorrow. There is no such thing as getting it all at once, or by reading and study. The man who would be a first class accountant in charge has many things to consider. He must initiate his own program and supply the force which carries it out. He must also absorb and blend with his own the forces which arise at the instance of others. The accountant who is assigned to an engagement in charge must first size up the situation and determine what is required. He must subsequently decide on the procedure; carry on the work incident to the engagement in the most efficient way; handle his assistants and give them proper and intelligent instructions. Then there are conditions in the client's office with which to deal; the client's employes and the client or his representatives frequently. There are the persons in the office to which the accountant is attached, who have to be taken into consideration. In addition to these matters there are the results of the work on the engagement to be appraised and put together; comprehensive and informative financial statements to be prepared; comments in clear, forceful English to be written; and, the report to be reviewed. Determining what is required many times calls for imagination. The requirements of an engagement are ofttimes briefly stated and sometimes not any too clearly expressed. This is not always avoidable, because there are times, it must be said, when the client doesn't know or is not able to state in the language of accounting exactly what he does want. To get the point of view of the client and to see his needs, frequently requires imagination. No accountant need hope for complete success who is not able to imagine himself in the place of the client. Deciding on procedure calls for the faculty of planning and organizing. This does not necessarily mean working out with pencil and paper a plan of campaign, although there are engagements where this is essential. On the smaller engagements the man in charge organizes the work in his mind as he proceeds to the scene of the engagement. If the engagement is a large one and especially if it has to be executed with precision and despatch, the wise accountant will lay the work out on paper, assign and instruct his men as to their respective chiefs, posts and duties, well in advance. Some very exceptional men are able to do these things during the beginning of the engagement, but such men are so rare as to warrant laying down the rule that a well organized plan, as above indicated, should be worked out on paper. It is important that sufficient time be taken to consider carefully in advance ways and means of carrying out the engagement. "Haste makes waste" was never more aptly applied than to accounting work. A wrong method or a mistake in principle may not be discovered until the work is nearly completed, with the result that the work already done is useless and must be done The Characteristics of the In-Charge Accountant
Object Description
Title |
Characteristics of the in-charge accountant |
Author |
Anonymous |
Subject |
Accounting as a profession |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 02, no. 07 (1919 July 15), p. 50-53 |
Date-Issued | 1919 |
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 2-p50 |