FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING A Distillation of Experience by v 4 - GEORGE
O. MAY Formerly senior partner, Price, Waterhouse Co., Certified
Public Accountants lecturer at the Graduate School of Business
Administration, Harvard University NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1946 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. All rights reserved no part of this
book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief
passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in
magazine or newspaper. Reprinted December, 1947 Reprinted May, 1949
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF A1CVUCA In this volume the American
Institute of Account ants is commonly referred to as the Institute,
the American Accounting Association as the Associa tion, and the
National Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners as the
NARUC. Foreword FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING is now generally recognized as
be ing primarily historical in character and as having for its most
important function the extraction and presentation of the essence
of the financial experience of businesses, so that decisions
affecting the present and the future may be taken in the light of
the past. The rules of accounting, even more than those of law, are
the product of experience rather than of logic. Similarly, this
book is an attempt to extract and present the essence of an
experience in financial accounting in the hope that it may be
helpful to those called upon to deal with the problems of the
future. It is not the result of a study and appraisal of
authorities, and the views that are expressed are those of its
author alone indeed, publication has been delayed until formal ties
and official positionswhich might have been deemed, to imply more
than a personal responsibility for them have been relinquished. In
part, it is based on lectures delivered at the Graduate School of
Busi ness Administration of Harvard University and papers writ ten
for other purposes since 1936. A few passages have been reproduced
from the volume which those who were then partners, with generous
insight, prepared in that year to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary
of the authors assumption of senior partnership. The writing of
such a book seemed to be justified by the fact that the experience
on which it is based extended over a period of exceptional interest
and was enriched by close association with men of eminence here and
abroad, not only vii viii FOREWORD in accounting but in government,
business, finance, law, and economics. The obligation owed to those
who have con tributed to that experience is great, but can be
expressed to them here only collectively. Grateful recognition
must, however, be given to the guidance, friendship, and
inspiration of Arthur Lowes Dickinson, who by his abilities, his
writings, and above all, by his example, earned an outstanding
place among the independent accountants of America, to whom this
book is gratefully dedicated. Contents CHAPTER PAGE I. THE NATURE
OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING ... i II. THE USES OF ACCOUNTS AND THEIR
INFLUENCE ON ACCOUNTING 14 HI. ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES AND POSTULATES
... 37 IV. HISTORICAL 51 V. COST AND VALUE 86 VI. COST 108 VII.
DEPRECIATION 118 VIII. DEPRECIATION AND REGULATION SINCE 1918 . .
130 IX. DEPRECIATION METHODS DEPLETION INTANGIBLES 145 X.
INVENTORIES AND COMMITMENTS ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE 172 XL LIABILITIES
v 191 XII. INCOME 215 XIII. FORMS OFSTATEMENTS 240 XIV. ACCOUNTING
AND REGULATION 254 GENERAL INDEX 267 CASES CITED 273 IX FINANCIAL
ACCOUNTING A Distillation of Experience
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
