The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1922-03-11
Choosing a Observation-Disclosures
BY j. Hugh Jackson
From This Journal OF Acoountnncy'

To one OF the greatest OF Amer.
lean psychologists II attributed th,
statement that there Is within
every individual n responsive chord
-Qn unknown power which only
some great Interest or op%portunity
can awaken and call forth. Bee
cause this interest o. never nwak-
ened or the opportunity seemingly
never comes To- some men. many
go throughout NE without know
ting OF that power within them.
Thus In each individual life
there are certain lines 81 activity
which interest or appeal more than
other activities and tend TO BRING
out the very best IN that life. For
roma accounting offers the great
est appeal. and for these account
Ing ~ the most interesting and the
grcittcsi game IN the world. Not
u is undoubtedly true THAI OF tho
many whu think themselves called
only O few viii be chosen, and
many men and women who think
Themselves fitted TO undertake the
work OF an accountant are entirely
unified, both by training and by
temperament. 10 do that Kind OF
work. Accounting requires the
ability % think straight. TO annlyge
clearly difficult business situa-
! tiOus 60 express concisely one'H
thpughts3 and yer the accountant
must possess "a vivid Imagination
he must hc able to visualize prob
able conditions whore many facts
are lacking and thereby 10 explain
such facts ms may bee found. Blu
im1gination and power OF analysis
are rarely found together-hcnvc
the scarcity OF first-class account
ants.
That there is keen interest iu
accounting cannot be doubted. o.
was estimated recently boy a we'll
known business educator that dur
ing the autumn OF 1890 between
90 600 ana 1000 individuals iu
Greater Boston yer studying
bookkeeping and various grades OF
accounting but an were enrolled
In s%o-called accounting courses
Many " these Students had no in
t~cntion Of qualifying for profess
siunai accountancy hut merely do
sired a knowledge Gf bookkcepiur
90 aid them In their daily prob
lens In business But all told.
only about two hundred indlvid.
uals could qualify FOR the Novom-
her 1920. Mnssa chusctts G. 4. A.
examinations, and perhaps loss
than a score were successful in
the examinations Accounting IL
not tho mediocre profession that
many would believe IL 20 be. and n
has nc place for those who advor-
tise Themselves az accountants"
80 do simple bookkeeping or cleri-
III HuN ruANE a. U...N.AU. ,~g..N. ~
lars q wce% -NCcotnt4ng ls n
science Of business and Gallo cor
d hlrh degree OF technical knuwl.
edge cnd academic training. as
wei. as Of professional experience.
The question naturally arises,
thon. what IL an accountant An
accountant has been defined Is
'rno skilled In business and
finance and IL the accountant 8,
20 make the most Of his prnfpu.
sion he must be VOL trained .n
business organization. In Industrial
finance. In marketing and labor
prubloHs. and In all the essential
phases ~ business, as wcll as be,
Ing skilled in determining uni,
costs. financial profit and loss FOR
the period under consideration
and Tho net worth " n business
1s revealed by It's hnlancc-shcCt.
In Reynolds and TitarniaRr "Du-
ties ~ the Junior Accountant 10 be-
stated that the accountant should
appear ''an intcnlgcui, educated.
trained man, utterly diepnssionato
and d%islnterestod. conservative.
able 20 express clearly bis opln-
ions unshakahiC in his Intention
20 speak the truth ny be- secs it.
and not particularly anxious tu
pleaFc anyone AZ the expense Of
giving prominence 20 selected
facts
This brings us 10 tho general
consideration OF what should be
the training OF the man enter
Ing accounting. The accountant
ls not. as Is sometimes supposed
a figuring or calculating machine
ana unleHg tho prospective account.
ant understands moro than the
mechanical rules Of debit and
credit, OF Journal entries and OF
trial-balanceH, IL were better fui
him and for the profession no pro.
poses 90 enter that he remain out
of Il. The accountant needs u
knowledge OF an phases OF busi-
ncsst for there is no individual
within "a business organization who
has So great an opportunity az the
accountant TO see and to under
stand an the operations within a
busincss a prominent New York
attorney, In lecturing recently he
fore the Harvard graduate school
~ business administration. stated
that IN his opinion accounting wa
tho finest possible avenue by which
a Young man may successfully en-.
ter AN executive position IN bust
mess. But chat ~ true only u that
young man has. IA addition 10 his
technical accounting knowledge. q
k~nowledge OF such fundamental
uhjects as humness organization
Indus rial finance. marketing and
MI tho basic subjects offered III
such a school.
From the technical standpoint
tho training Of a man entering ne.
counting should include. In add
tiCn 10 his training In accounting
"a thorough training In businegI
law ir business and scientific nan
nHemeni, ana In the workings q
the income AK. In a broad wal
AZ least, all accounting may he 81
vided into two groups; first. wha
I'LL