The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1911-02-16
BY c. w. JENNINGS.

{. BY c. W. JENNINGS. T
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ao YOU don't think you'd
M<N like your boy to become a
WSS& bookkeeper. Well, what
&E about an accountant?
V You don't know about
that exactly? You're afraid,
eh, that that's q job not much bet
ter than that of bookkeeper?
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 its course in accountancy.
Twenty years ago." 1t says, most
business concerns Of this country
were satisfied If their bookkeepers
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 bal
ance sheet which would show the true
condition of their affairs. In other
words, they asked for nothing more
than record Of results.
To-day, the managers of progress
sive and successful concerns call upon
accountants-not bookkeepers-to aid
them in the efficient administration of
their business. They demand of the
accountant that he show 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 accountant is
expected to analyze the business and
to measure accurately all the forces
and factors that are engaged therein.
ITO perform this work successfully,
the accountant must not only under
stand all the complicated interlocking
records of the business, he must have
grasp also of all the essential feat
ures of it's management, and must be
himself an administrator Of 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 knowl-
edge of business organizations, Of
finance, and of economies, as we'll as
Of accounting proper.
Now let me quote summary Of the
high place in modern affairs the for
merly unimportant bookkeeper has
reached: "The public accountant is
expected to have 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
scientific 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 be able to
solve the most abstruse and intricate
problems that arise in any branch Of
accounting; and, as an auditor, he Il
expected to have broad general
knowledge of business, with the in
tuition of the detective as we'll as the
skill of the accountant"
Well, when casting about for the
ifework for your boy, and he show:
a liking for "figgors" and business
analysis, don't stick up your nose a
any ideas of bookkeeping as you re
member 1t; but let him go on, sure IL
the knowledge that he is starting OF
road that leads straight into thu
highest and most lucrative position
In any and all lines of commerce.
IL no exaggeration to say that many
many managers of the bigger bust
nesses of the country today were ea1
" in their lives running up column
of figures at bookkeeper's desk.
Like most lines Of endeavor, ae
countancy is not line that require
college education as preliminary
indeed, your boy may start in almos
any time after his infancy in the ur
hallowed job of office boy, secure i
his confidence that the handle of tn
world can be manipulated from tina
beginning If he only has ambition ~
application. Office boys generally n
ceive 81 or SIS a week.
AS soon as he starts in this humbl
place, however, your boy should &c
to work learning things that he wi
: not be taught in the ordinary detail
,, of his employment; for his usefulnes
will depend upon his increasing hi
efficiency and earning more than he
] paid. There is no branch of activit
that offers greater facilities to tt
energetic young man anxious to a
vance; for the country Is full
!. schools giving day and evenir
courses Of study in business, rangir
, from special courses In the publ
schools and those costing very lit