Common understanding;

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HASKINS & SELLS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
BULLETIN
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37 WEST 39TH ST.. NEW YORK
SPBLOHAENRARDNILSOING NH A I
MHMAOEVXNAICTNROAEA CLIT Y
VOL. VIII NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1925 No. 12
Common Understanding
ACCOUNTANCY is not without its
share of this world's grief which is
the result of misunderstanding. The new­ness
of the profession, lack of knowledge
due to inexperience, the efforts of well-meaning
individuals with a common pur­pose
but often diverging views, of neces­sity
must cause a certain amount of mill­ing
around, so to speak, before the pro­fession
finds itself.
The functions, duties, and responsibili­ties
of public accountants have been dis­cussed
frequently and at length in general
terms designed to acquaint the public with
the place which accountancy pretends to
occupy. Specific attempts, by the score,
have been made to get closer to related
interests and make clearer to such inter­ests
what public accountants are trying
to do. Unfortunately, every now and
then, it appears that these efforts have
been somewhat in vain. One of the
reasons for this, seemingly, is that account­ants
have not realized the necessity of
defining and differentiating the various
classes of service which they render.
That even broad, general classification
of accountancy services results in at least
thirteen classes, may be learned with
surprise. That the concepts of various
individuals differ widely with regard to
service in some of these classes probably
will be less surprising. Where may two
accountants be found who will agree as
to what is comprehended in a so-called
balance sheet audit? How many clients
know that a balance sheet verification
will not disclose fraud concealed by falsi­fication
of the books and records? How
many bankers know that a report on a
limited examination must be taken at its
face value and is not a certified general
audit report?
Perhaps the cure for this tangle of
ignorance, misconception, and obscurity
lies in the distant future. An immediate
step in the direction of getting out of the
muddle seems to consist in having some
authoritative accounting body classify,
define, and differentiate the various types
of accountancy service. The succeeding
step should be to promulgate the result
for the guidance of the profession, for the
information of the business public, and
in the interest of a fair understanding on
the part of those who have occasion to
utilize the services of public accountants.
Common understanding as to what ac­countants
undertake to do should go far
in eliminating many of the troublesome
situations which otherwise are bound to
arise in public practice.