Economic development institute :third project evaluation course (general)

Abstract

A deep division has appeared among public accountants which the council of the American institute of certified public accountants recently tried and failed to close. The debate turns on what an American accountant means when he certifies a company's annual report for, unlike his British counterpart, he testifies not simply to its arithmetical accuracy but also to its "fairness" and its conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Unfortunately, the accounting profession in spite of sincere and strenuous efforts for many years has never been able to agree on definitions of either of these terms. One faction would have the elders of the profession, the Accounting principles board, lay dawn rules which all would have to accept. The opposition, a minority but strong enough up to now to impose an effective veto, prefers the status quo, which allows management to account for its stewardship within a broad range of acceptable practices and does not attempt to enforce comparability among reports of different companies.