Process of development;

              HASKINS & SELLS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO
LOS ANGELES
DETROIT
ST. LOUIS
CLEVELAND
BALTIMORE
PITTSBURGH BULLETIN SEATTLE
DENVER
ATLANTA
WATERTOWN
LONDON
VOL. I NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 15, 1918 No. 7
D E V E L O P M E N T implies a process. An
act is instantaneous. It is the antithe­sis
of a process. A process is a series of
related acts.
The development of an accountant is a
process; not an act. It depends upon a
number of things. There is first the indi­vidual
with the accompanying qualities, such
as mentality, personality, temperament,
physique, education, experience, analytical
ability, patience, integrity, desire for devel­opment,
capacity for work and study, imag­ination,
enthusiasm, and ability to appro­priate
from the passing experience those
things which will be desirable for future
use. There is second the opportunity for
work, study, and development which is af­forded
the individual. Last, there is the
instruction and guidance which he received
from his preceptors and superordinates.
Much of the duty, that of presenting the
proper material for development, together
with the necessary attributes, devolves upon
the accountant. The remainder, and not
an inconsequential part, rests with managers
of offices and in-charge accountants. The
problem of development is a joint one.
Mentality is a prime requisite. One who
aspires to develop into a good accountant
must possess ability to grasp quickly the sig­nificance
of either the spoken or written
word, to reason from facts, to absorb
knowledge and use it in the solution of
problems. With these mental qualities must
be combined that of being agreeable to one's
associates and the many persons with whom
one comes in contact, ability to refrain from
any word or deed which reflects ill temper;
to avoid any act which is not absolutely
honest; to maintain a steadfastness of pur­pose;
and to read and study incessantly.
Development as applied to the accountant
is a successive term. The junior develops
into a semi-senior; the semi-senior into a
senior, or accountant in-charge; the ac­countant
in charge into an office manager.
Each grade in turn has its responsibilities
and rewards. The quiet, unobtrusive boy
who checks and foots but does it for all
there is in him may some day become a
member of the firm.
Ambition to develop, it may be taken
for granted, lurks in every breast. It
should be encouraged. To give the junior
an opportunity to try his hand at analyzing
the general ledger accounts, or the semi-senior
a trial at putting the figures together
or writing the report may be the very chance
for which he has been waiting. In the
words of a time-worn but none the less
appropriate passage from Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries."
In the many details incident to the pro­cess
of development the potentialities which
exist all along the way should not be over­looked.
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The Process of Development