The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1892-06-30
AUDITING BOOKS AT NIGHT.

One Feature of Expert Accounting Thai
Is Performed In Secret.
"J will venture the csti mate" said 9
wcll-kn own public accountant recent
", that not one.half of thu humble r Of
dcfalcations md thcfts from son lncr'
cial and financial institutions and bust
ness houses in the city are ever made
public.
business men" he continued. are
loath to admit that they have been
victimizcd. They go on the theory
that publicity in such matters might
iniurc their ere lit. Consequently un'
less the am cunt is large, every effort is
made to lie cp the matter out of court,
y though it entails some loss.
"Thc public have an idea that the
principal work of an expert accountant
comes in play in settling estates, exam
lining the books of { operations, making
investigations for capitalists who are
about to invest money in business
ventures. opening up new DO oks and go
ing over the hooks of ms titutions that
nave been robbed.
''Thnt is, however. hut a small por-
ton nf the work. What we call the
auditing feature Of the business has de-
velupcd largely Of late. The conduc>
tinn Of this reveals much that is start.
lug IN a criminal way anil leads Inc to
thc assertion that not one-lal T of the
i,ralration> committed NJ. cvcr made
public"
When asked for n more complete OK
~plauatitn of the auditing feature the
accountant said: 81 will illustrate with
a case that | ha We just concluded.
"Thc books of q large w holcsalc
house wcre balanced by the office force
at the end of the year. THY showed
the profits tn he far less than was c
prcted. The partners had an idea of
forming a stock company of their bust
ness. They did not question the in
tcgritv Of their cashier, who had been
with them many years. At the same
| time they were anxious to find ont u
everything was going properly in Their
office.
"rhry explained the circumstances tc
me and I proposed auditing their books
and outlined the work. It amounts tt
nothing more or less than this: Every
niyht after the Office was closed tht
Junior partner of the firm met two o.
my mon who were specially detailed
for the purpose. Together they pro
ce2dcd t. the office, opened the safe an(
worked until > o'clack in the morning
Every Individual transaction of thu
day was taken up and entered on Sheet
of paper rs though we were the clerica
fore" of the house. We never made IL
entry on the books or attempted t.
check back from them. For Il mont
we continued the work without tn
knowledge of the cashier or his as
sistantS.
''The result was as expected. W
discovered an elaborate system of falls
entries by which the firm had been dc
fraudcd for years. The cashier wa
taken to task without Icing INFORMED
that his books had been audited. II
denied his e uilt, threatened suits TO
SANDER and assumed n virtlous indi2
nation. When the other set of book
was shown to him. however. he wiltcd
confessed his crime and pleaded 70
mercy. As he had been with the hous
for II lony time he was permitted to II
sign. and |, of course. am pledged t
secrecy regarding his identity,
''rhut case said the accountant
conclusion. lis but n Of the man
whrrc Il crime is hushcd up. and L
added. that wholesale house is not TIL
only one whose books have bee
audited, nor do we cNpcct to terminal
| with il the auditing feature of GU
lu.innsS ~ Y. Herald.