Foot-notes; [News items];

              Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 45
Foot-notes
SITUATIONS calling for foot-notes in
connection with accountants' reports
appear to be arising with increasing fre­quency.
This fact calls for a somewhat
intensive consideration because of objec­tion
to foot-notes from some quarters and
the opportunity which they afford to un­scrupulous
or careless individuals who are
responsible for the reproduction of ac­countants'
reports.
The necessity for more than passing care
in the use of foot-notes will be evident when
it is realized that notations carrying in­formation
of importance are sometimes
omitted from balance sheets which are
reproduced for publication. It must also
be said incidentally that bank credit men
view with some alarm the marked ten­dency
toward the use of foot-notes by
accountants. This, however, is something
which may not be easily overcome where a
situation calls plainly for a notation of some
kind respecting a certain item on the
balance sheet, or some phase attaching to a
certain item, which may not be otherwise
expressed.
Opportunities for and occasions of fraud,
and even forgery, growing out of the use of
accountants' reports, should serve to en­force
the greatest precaution of every sort
on the part of the accountant, in the
preparation of reports.
The outstanding illustrations of foot­notes
are, of course, taxes, and notes re­ceivable
discounted. Other matters some­times
covered are cumulative dividend
rights in connection with preferred shares;
interest on income bonds; merchandise or