page_title: John Whitmore (accountant)
section_title: Factory accounting as applied to machine shops, 1906
hierarchical_section_title: John Whitmore (accountant) / Work / Factory accounting as applied to machine shops, 1906
caption_attribution_description: English: Machine shop in the Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: John Whitmore was an American accountant, lecturer, and disciple of Alexander Hamilton Church, known for presenting "the first detailed description of a standard cost system."
context_section_description: In his 1906 article "Factory accounting as applied to machine shops," Whitmore "elaborated upon and explained in considerable detail the costing system advanced by A. Hamilton Church, adopted the manufacturing account (work in process) arrangement for controlling the factory cost sheets" in machine shops.
  Whitmore stated, that one of the great essentials to the practice of factory accounting is a "clear perception of the similarities and dissimilarities... The fundamental principle is always the same, namely, the practice of making a record sufficiently full to constitute a clear accounting for the factory expenditure, and the object of the accounts is always the same, namely, to eliminate waste from the operations."
  The main issue of cost accounting in those days was, that the "continuously increasing use of machinery, and the larger ratio the cost of its use bears to the total cost of production... systematically charging machinery costs over the processes, or articles manufactured. The problem is.. what system most fairly charges each unit of product with the proportionate cost of the machinery and plant expended on its production."
caption: Regular machine shop early 20th century. The Government Printing Office between 1909 and 1932.
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