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18 HASKINS & SELLS March Helping Ourselves By E . L . KINCAID, C . P. A. (In-charge Accountant, Newark Office) ABOUT November 15 of each year nervous tension begins to creep upon most of the in-charge accountants in our organization, exacting heavy toll from those affected by its mental and physical weakening processes. The reason for this condition is that we are again at the beginning of a busy season with its large number of new engagements, all engagements demanding more exacting attention owing to our steadily improving methods of procedure. However, the time element involved in this immense amount of work remains comparatively stationary. This latter condition is due principally to the provisions of the Federal income tax law. The serious problem is up for solution again: that of completing each engagement in the allotted time and still maintaining the standard of service required. Paraphrasing a famous French resolution, we may assert, "It shall be solved!" This means added responsibility for every member of the organization. But undoubtedly we are safe in saying that the brunt of this responsibility falls on the in-charge accountants. The purpose of this article is to suggest a partial solution of this serious problem, which seems to be growing more complex with each passing year. We acknowledge that the best solution would be the general adoption of the natural business year advocated by one of the founders of our organization, the late Elijah Watt Sells. This plan is coming more and more into general use, and in time no doubt will solve the serious annual problem in question. However, temporary relief must be provided pending the general adoption of the natural business year. This relief must come through "helping ourselves." Just before the busy season each year our personnel department is overburdened with requests from our practice offices for experienced in-charge accountants. The supply available always falls far short of the demand. The reason for this dearth of men is to be found in the rigid qualifications which Haskins & Sells insist that their in-charge accountants must meet. What is the solution of this lack of properly qualified men? Obviously, we must develop our assistant accountants in a shorter time than has been our wont. Then when the busy season rushes in upon us, threatening to trample us under, we can utilize our trained assistants and, with a minimum of supervision, render to clients a better service than is possible through the application of almost superhuman efforts on the part of the in-charge accountants, in which they necessarily tend to lose some of their astuteness. The technical procedure department is doing notable work for our organization, but because of its lack of contact with the majority of our assistant accountants, we cannot expect this department to undertake the development of the individual assistant. The assistant must be trained while employed at his daily work, through thoughtful direction, planning, and instruction by the manager, supervising accountant, and in-charge accountant. It is admitted that this supposedly is the manner in which the assistant is trained at present, unintentionally so perhaps in a majority of cases. Generally the manager and in-charge accountant attack an engagement with the sole thought of completing it as soon as possible, rendering, of course, our usual standard of service. The feeling often is
Object Description
Title |
Helping ourselves |
Author |
Kincaid, Enoch L. |
Subject |
Haskins & Sells Accounting firms |
Personal Name |
Sells, Elijah Watt, 1858-1924 |
Office/Department |
Haskins & Sells. Technical Procedure Department Haskins & Sells. Newark Office Haskins & Sells |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 09, no. 03 (1926 March), p. 18-19 |
Date-Issued | 1926 |
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 9-p18 |