ACCOUNTANCY PROFESSION

Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1929, Page 12

ACCOUNTANCY PROFESSION

IMPORTANT IN MODERN BUSINESS. ADDRESS GIVEN TO ROTARY CLUB. The place of the accountant, his value and his importance in modern commerce was the subject dealt with by Mr. W. E. Best, a Christchurch member of the profession, who was the guest of the New Plymouth Rotary Club at the weekly luncheon yesterday. Though the profession had been practised many centuries, there being records of the work of the accountant in England as far back as 129;), said Mr. Best, the New Zealand Society had been in existence only 21 years. Nevertheless, the profession had attained a high state of perfection even in this country. The accountant was a person who was skilled in the science of accounts and business procedure, and no business could be successful unless these departments were properly conducted. To qualify he had to have a good character, a broad general education and satisfy the examiners in the professional subjects. The examination might be considered difficult, but there was no reason why anyone should not qualify. Certain legal subjects had to be studied, but their value was apparent since a knowledge of them saved solicitors many petty details and the firm much money. The importance of accountancy today, continued the speaker, was that it enabled accuracy to be obtained in commercial transactions and took the mystery out of profits. The merchant could ascertain the sources of his income and place a weak section of the business on a sounder basis. To-day the profession had to be constructive if better methods of conducting business were to be found. Accountancy should tell the executive everything there vias to know about a business, in order that all waste could be eliminated. Advertising produced much wasted effort and was not recognised by many to be the art it was. A business man took so many inches in a newspaper and filled it up without thinking whe-t-her he had a story to tell about ie article he was trying to sell. A business, like a factory, shou e productive of results and the \ a ?;. 0 attain this end was by the production in the office of statistics so that com-

parison might be made between present and past, between different employees, and between the inflow of money at different periods. Many offices now bad a credit department, the duty of which was to see that money was constantly flowing in and that too long credits were not being given. Money was the lifeblood of commerce and too much of it tied up was bad. As an example of the value of studied accounting, Mr. Best quoted the American Tobacco Company, which during its war with British firms evolved the system of presenting to the executive at 12 o’clock every day a profit and loss account of the previous day’s business. The system told the firm a great deal, including the barest margin to which prices could be reduced for success in the competitive struggle. Modern business might be compared with a wheel of which the executive was the hub and the avenues of income the spokes. Each had to be effectively and economically controlled and, Mr. maintained one unnecessary scratch of the pen was waste and should ■be cut out. Every problem had a remedy and the accountant was the adviser who was often called on to attend executive meetings. Business men should never hesitate to instal labour-saving machines where they could be run efficiently. The use being made of book-keeping machines would be seen from the fact that there were 23 different types on the market at present. Adding machines were being greatly used and were very economical since they could be worked by juniors. The reason why the accountant was valuable in modern commerce was that his training developed to the fullest extent the critical faculties of the mind whereby he could visualise and vitalise figures,* arrange facts in chronological order and weigh them against each other. But to begin with the qualities necessary were absolute integrity, the highest moral courage and the utmost efficiency. On the motion -of Rotarian Hugh Baily a vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Best for liis address.