Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-02-17

1NAAAAA JOo ~
N like your boy to become a
NlsWSN bOOkkeeper. Well, what
SS,A1s about an accountant?
49, You don't know about
that exactly? You're afraid,
Ell, that that's a job not much bet
ter than that Of b~OOkkeeper?
Well, then, listen while tell you
briefly about the apotheosis of the for
mer unimpOrtant ~boOkkeeper under
the title of accountant. And first give
heed to the following excerpt from a
university prospectus, Introducing a
talk on it's course in accOuntancy.
Twenty years ago" it says, most
business concerns of this country
were satisfied if their b~OOkkeepers
could render to them at the close of
each month an accurate statement of
cash income and cash Outgo, and could
make up at the end Of the year a bal
ance sheet which would show the true
condition of their affairs. In other
words, they asked for nothing more
than a record of results.
To-day, the managers of progress
Blve and successful concerns call upon
Rccountants-nOt boOkkeepers-to aid
them in the efficient administration of
their business. They demand of the
accountant that he how them the
true cost of every product that they
turn out; that he measure the eff
cheney of the men and machines that
they employ; that he trace the effect
upon profits of new methods and in
ventiOns. in short, the accOuntan is
expected to a~nalyze the business and
TO measure accurately all the forces
and factors that are engaged therein.
Io perform this work successfully,
the accountant must not OnIy ,iE3ar-
stand all the complicated i~nterlOcking
records of the business, he must have
a grasp also of all the essential feat
ures Of its management, and must be
himself an administrator OF a high
order. Public accountants particular
ly,-inasmuch as they may be called
on to install or reOrganize accounting
systems in any line of business
must have a wide and accurate knowI-
edge of business organizations. Of
finance, and Of economies, as we'll as
of accounting proper.
Now let me quote a summary Of the
high place in modern affairs the for
merIy unimpOrtant bookkeeper has
reached. The public accountant is
expected to have a knowledge of the
underlying principles of the laws that
govern business relations and of the
practical application of such laws. a
thorough knowledge Of the principles
OF mOdern accounting and Of their
application to the keeping
and stating Of accounts in all lines of
business enterprise and wherever set
Elements involving money are TO be
made. He is expected to b. able to
solve the most abstruse and intricate
problems that arise in any branch of
accounting; and, as an auditor. he is
expected to have a broad general
knowledge of business. with the in
tuition of the detective as Well as the
skill OF the accountant"
Well. when casting about for the
hfework for your boy. and he shows
a liking for "fggers' and business
analysis, don't stick up your nose at
any ideas of bookkeeping as you re-
member it; but let him go on. sure in
the knowledge hat he is starting on
a road that leads straight into the
highest and most lucrative positions
In any and all lines of 1t
Is no ~eXaggeratiOn to say that many,
many managers Of the bigger bust
nesses of the country today were ear
~ in their lives running up columns
of figures at a b~Ookkeeper's desk.
Like most lines of e~ndeavor. &C
countancy is not a line that REQUIRES
a college education as a preliminary;
indeed. your boy may start in almost
n time after his infancy in the I'M
hallowed job of office boy, secure in
his confidence that the handle of the
world can be manipulated from that
beginning If he only has ambition and
application. Office boys generally re-
Ceive S4 or IS a week.
AS sOon as he starts in his humble
place. however. your boy should get
10 work learning things hat he will
not be taught in the ordinary details
of his employment; for his usefulness
Will depend upon his increasing his
efficiency and earning more than he is
paid. There is no branch of activity
that offers greater facilities to the
energetic young man anxious to ad-
rance; for the country is full of
schools giving day and evening
courses of study in business, ranging
from special courses in the public
schools and those costing very little