STATE ACCOUNTS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26394, 12 April 1951, Page 8

STATE ACCOUNTS

PLEA FOR CLARITY IN PRESENTATION “SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ACCOUNTANTS” (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 11. Professor D. C. Marsh, head of the School of Social Sciences at Victoria University College, considers that company and State accounts are not nearly informative enough. He blames accountants for this.

To-night he told a meeting of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Accountants that accountants had a social responsibility to present' shareholders, employees, and the public with a clear picture of the real financial position of companies. Government departments had a similar responsibility to show the taxpayers exactly how their money was being spent, and if it was being spent wisely. "Accountants, however, are not fulfilling their responsibilities,” Professor Marsh said. He considered the use of informative accounts a reliable instrument in moulding economic and social policy. State and company accounts should be presented in a way that gave both the layman and the expert the true position, not by merely a few over-all covering phrases which “covered a multitude of sins.”

The old excuse that by publishing the full facts of one company, another competitive company would benefit did not hold- water. It was in the accountants' power to present this true picture to the public, and it was their obligation to society to do so. The full implications of the accountants’ activities were too little realised, and the effect they had on the economic and social life of the country was not sufficiently exploited by the profession, added Professor Marsh.

Mr W. G. Rodger, head of the accountancy department at Victoria College, also criticised the lack of information in State and company reports. To-day, more than ever before, it was vital that New Zealand should present clear and informative State accounts, he said.