Elements of Accounts: For Individuals, Professional Men and Institutions (Classic Reprint)

At a time when so many text-books on bookkeeping and accounting are available for school and college use, an author should be expected to give some satisfactory reason for adding one more to the list. In the study of the principles of bookkeeping and business procedure, it is the opinion of the author that too much importance has always been attached to mercantile accounts to the entire neglect of other practical and interesting fields of study. There are without doubt certain types of schools in which mercantile bookkeeping should be given but limited attention in order that greater emphasis might be placed upon that phase of the work more closely associated with the interests and affairs of the average man and woman. This is particularly true of the bookkeeping taught in girls high schools, womens colleges, schools and colleges offering secretarial courses, and in private schools where some attention is given to the training of the students in the fundamentals of business. The author became especially impressed with this fact while connected withS immons College as associate professor of accountancy. In the course in secretarial studies in this college bookkeeping occupied a minor place due to the fact that the students were being trained for secretarial positions of a high grade. Pew of these students thought of becoming bookkeepers or of taking positions in which such work was of consequence. Experience had shown that when the graduates were called upon to do bookkeeping, it was not of the mercantile type, but was associated with the accounts of institutions, societies, professional men and private individuals. Extensive drill on commercial bookkeeping was therefore of little interest and failed to give a training which was directly applicable to the type of work which the students might be called upon to do. As a result, it seemed advisable to make radi
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)