Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-12-27
EXPERT ACCOUNTANTS
SAY EMPLOYERS LOSE MONEY SIM
PLY THROUGH NEGLIGENCE

BE Removed Through the Exercise ,f i.
Little Care-Results of = Careless system
OF Keeping Accounts.
How to keep trusted clerks from ON,
Oezzlement IS a secret which every bust.
ness hrm or corporation in CHICAGO wonId
like to know There does not mass da,,
but some populations are discovered from
the young man who steals a few doIIo-s
and IS sent to j2il to the penius WHO
leaves for Canada with a million in his
pockets. Expert accountants saw that
employers lose money simDlv tirorob
ther own negligence, and that all chances
Iof embezZlement can be removed tbronoh
the exercise of little care.
w. Z. Baine says .sThe business Of on
expert accountant is new one in +La
west, and has not acquired the dignity of
a profession. 1t not only calls for a
knowledge Of bookkeeping in one line Of
business, but it also requires a KNOWLEDGE
OF every business, contractual rights. and
the ability to construe the terms of con
tracts, But III Chicago, whenever an or
binary booilkeeper is thrown out Of
employment, he at once sets himself IN
as all expert accountant. OF course such
men IAN The keeping Of a set Of books
can be learned IN SIX months as well as in
SIX Years, and the b0okkeeper does not
realize that this is the smallest mart Of
the knowledge which an expert account
ant should acquire before he can succeed
IN GREAT Britain man cannot arrive TO
Ihe ulSn+y OF an expert accountant until
ne mas gone through course Of studv in
the same manner as a student for the bar
lie therefore becomes fitted to answer
any cali that may be made upon him. and
the business becomes Il life business.
But look at the list of accountants in
the Chicago directory. There are yerv
few names which appeared in last wears
directory, showing that the business with
many has been but a temporary one while
the men engaged in it were out of work
IN their ordinary vocation, that OF keen
ing books. But the business is bound 10
grow. Business is done in such q hurry
here that mistakes are very liable to
occur. In the large majority Of cases.
where an expert accountant is called to
examine a set Of books which are out of
balance, it viii be found that there has
been no thi2ving, but that carelessness
has been the trouble If a bo0!kecper or
cashier is trusted sufficiently and has the
handling OF money it is an easy matter
for him to steal, but it is as much harder
for him TO conceal his thefts A very
common way is to falsify the items on
the debit side Of the cash book The cor
rect amounts are generally entered on
the ledger account, and the merchant
almost invariably looks at the LEDGER
when he wishes to sec whether any ac-
count has been paid 1t is his own care
lessness that permits embezzlement, and
if he has not the time to look after his
own business he should have an account
ant 60 over his books three or four times
Il year.
Merritt Brooks, who has been in the
business for a number Of years, has had
the opportunity of watching the course
taken by a number of embezzIcrs, and the
means used by them to make their books
apparently balance, SO that at u casual
glance their peculatiOns cannot be dis
covered The way happened to enter
into the business was this, he said; Il
had been engaged rs u bookkeeper i'll Buf-
falo, and was employed to examine into
the accounts of the county treasurer of
Erie county. 1t was found that through
a careless system Of keeping accounts the
treasurer was short il his cash $4,000.
This discovery led 10 an investigation
d
from the time when the charter was
originally granted. The sum of S1j4, 900
was discovered, the accumulation Of
small amounts Of oyercharges on special
assessments, which the city had no
knowledge it possessed.
1T is difficult for a man who keeps an
upright set of books to steal his employ
er's money without detection. When a
cashier Of a bank wants to steal money
outright, and with such a sum as he can
take at once and leave for parts unknown,
there is no necessity for him to try to
I cover up the theft by false entries in his
books. But the dcfaulter who takes money
from time to time is forced to make his
books appear balanced. He makes false
entries which can be discovered easily BIZ
an expert accountant The systematic
! embezzler simply relies upon no examina-
ton being made. In order to commit
/ systematic robbery lie must be trusted
not only with the cash, but also with the
books. 1t is then a very easy matter to
/ enter items or false f0otings in the cash
! book so that the figures viii appear cor
/ rect. Unless the employer goes bencath
the surface the fraud viii never be dis
/ covered.
/ The honest bookkeeper would not feel
I offended or lnsultel if his books were cX-
amined, and if he is dishonest, the sooner
/ his work is looked over the better Book
+ keepers would be more careful and the
books would be better kept. A cashier in
/ a large establishment should not be al
lowed to have full charge of the books,
and the boOkkeeper should be the one to
keep the record of all the cashiers receipts
and expenditures. In this way embezzle-
ment is impossible unless the two act in
collision. The accounts Of the cashier
! can then be examined by the bookkeeper s
/ records only. Few defalcations are found
/ in the accounts CT railroad corporations,
/ where large sums of money are handled
/ every year. This is because of the system
of auditing accounts. The agent who
/ handles money for the company does not
know what moment the travelling auditor
may come in and demand an immediate
/ inspection of his accounts Examinations
made in this way affect the market value
Of stock in corporations. If investors
could be satisfied that the condition of
/ the finances of any corporation was eX-
actly what it is given out to be by the
officers they would have greater conf
dence in investing and the market value
of the stocks would increase. "-Ghicag
Times.
Concerning Intermittent Fever.
/ Residence in valleys or on lowlands
through which or upon which cold air
flows at night, and thus causes insidious
II 49,