Best paper awards;1963 tax conference;Book on working capital;

              BEST PAPER AWARDS
In the article on the Accounting
Principles Board in the Autumn issue
of H&S Reports, comparability in
financial statements was described as
an important goal in accounting. Com­parability
is also important to the
judges of the Best Papers. They must
find comparable bases on which to eval­uate
papers on a wide variety of tech­nical
subjects, presented before quite
different audiences, each under unique
circumstances. Then they can apply to
all the papers their tests of technical
soundness, originality and logical de­velopment
of thought, readability, and
general style.
The judges have chosen the follow­ing
winners in the contest year from
October 1,1962 to September 30, 1963:
James B. Miller, Senior Accountant,
Pittsburgh —First Award, $500.
"Feasibility Studies—Their Compo­nents
and Application."
Mr. Miller presented his paper be­fore
the advanced accounting students
of the University of Pittsburgh; it was
published in Selected Papers—1962.
With logic and clarity Mr. Miller ex­plained
the first considerations and the
steps in setting up a study. By referring
to the experience of a company actu­ally
engaged in weighing the merits of
data processing equipment, he then
traced the progress in coming to a
decision.
Thomas R. Warner, Principal, Los
Angeles—Second Award, $300. "Au­diting
EDP Systems."
Mr. Warner's paper was presented
before a technical session of the Cali­fornia
Society of CPAs. It clearly de­scribes
some of the factors important
for the auditor to consider in planning
an engagement where records are main­tained
on EDP equipment. The discus­sion
skillfully manages to win the inter­est
of the experienced man and at the
same time to instruct the newcomer.
The U. S. Army Audit Agency has pub­lished
Mr. Warner's paper in its De­cember
1963 Bulletin.
Henry D. Forer, Principal, Miami-
Third Award, $200. "Tax Account­ing
for Real Estate Foreclosures Un­der
the 1962 Revenue Act."
Mr. Forer presented his paper at the
1963 annual meeting of the Society of
Savings and Loan Controllers. The So­ciety
subsequently issued it as a tech­nical
release, and the American Savings
and Loan Institute Press published it
in Federal Taxes for Savings Associa­tions.
Mr. Forer has deftly marshaled
the facts on a complex subject; through­out
the paper there is evidence of de­tailed
knowledge of his subject—one of
particular importance to mortgage
holders.
Best Paper Awards will be made
again in 1964 for papers submitted dur­ing
the twelve months ending Septem­ber
30.
1963 TAX
CONFERENCE
To keep abreast of the fast-moving tax
field, the Firm holds an annual confer­ence
for its tax specialists. It enables
them to share ideas, test techniques,
compare notes on working with the
IRS, and generally to achieve a uni­formly
effective Haskins & Sells ap­proach
to clients' tax problems.
The 1963 Tax Conference was held
at the Blackstone-Hilton Hotel in Chi­cago
on October 21-23. In attendance
were 68 partners and principals from
48 of our domestic offices, three from
Deloitte, Plender, Haskins & Sells in
Canada, and 12 of our senior account­ants.
The group heard 42 speakers and
panelists discuss problems and oppor­tunities
ranging from the investment
credit to serving controlled foreign
corporations, from depreciation guide­lines
to the preparation of returns under
the new travel and entertainment pro­visions,
and from dividend recapture to
problems unique to special industries.
The Revenue Act of 1963, which at
the time of the meeting was before the
Senate Finance Committee, was re­viewed
by a panel. One of the bill's im­portant
provisions would change the
capital gains structure for individuals;
another would permit a spread-back of
an individual's income from a year in
which it was unusually high.
Of importance to corporate clients
are proposals to reduce surtax exemp­tions
and eliminate the additional tax
on consolidated returns.
Recent changes in Canadian taxes
were summarized. Of special interest
was a report on new withholding rates
on the dividends of U. S. stockholders.
Papers and outlines of talks given at
the conference have been sent to all
practice offices for their use in future
training programs.
BOOK ON
WORKING CAPITAL
Working Capital, by Colin Park of our
Firm and Professor John W Gladson of
New York University, was published in
November by The Macmillan Com­pany.
Ranging from basic flow-of-funds
analysis to a final chapter on liquidity
patterns in the national economy, the
emphasis of this book is on construction
of figures for management planning and
control of working capital. Current por­tions
of assets and liabilities are sepa­rated
according to operational time, re­flecting
the cycle of a company's cash
and credit, through production, storage,
and distribution, to new cash and credit.
The subject of working capital meas­urement
and control is of major interest
to the entire financial community. The
impact of inflation and a growing so­phistication
on the part of users of finan­cial
information have spurred the search
for additional means of assessing a com­pany's
financial position and progress.
By combining significant parts of the
other statements, and eliminating his­torical
cost depreciation from the oper­ating
figures, funds statements relating
more closely to a company's short-term
liquidity and operating funds flows are
produced. Such analyses are vital to
financial planning and control.
Although Working Capital deals pri­marily
with managerial accounting
analysis, the discussion is kept within
the traditional framework of accounting
theory and practice. Of interest to fi­nancial
executives, bankers, and other
financial men as well as to professional
accountants is a review of the pros and
cons of adopting natural business years.
The 213-page volume has 86 tables and
24 charts, including illustrations of pub­lished
funds statements, both tabulated
and graphical. Copies of this book have
been added to the libraries in all of our
offices.
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