The Training of
Accountants
It’s no longer a liit-anil-miss propo¬
sition. Certified Public Accountants
these flays have to go through a
strict period of training before they
are qualified to liegin their work.
By KOII MAURY
CERTIFIED public accountants
on the average, are one of the
highest paid groups of profes¬
sional men in the country, govern¬
ment statistics show.
And yet the demand far exceeds
the supply.
The members of the North Caro¬
lina Association of Certified Public
Accountants, an organization that
has grown from a membership of
84 to more than 300 members in
10 years, has been mulling over
this shortage problem for some¬
time.
Last year the Association decided
the time had come to try to do
something about the situation. As
an experiment, an Institute with a
program designed to train men
preparing for CPA examinations
was set up at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill
under the sponsorship of the Asso¬
ciation and the North Carolina
Business Foundation. A six-week
course was provided.
Nineteen men attended this
first school. Their experience in
public accounting ranged from one
to 20 years, their ages from 20 to
45. Three-fourths of them had some
college training, and about one-
fourth were college graduates.
The results proved so successful
that the CPA Association decided
to ask the University and the
Business Foundation to provide a
similar program again this summer.
This years Institute is being
conducted for a five-week period,
July 25-August 26. and the in¬
structor in charge will again be
David M. Beights. head of the
Department of Commerce at
Florida State University.
Dr. Beights has had wide expe¬
rience in the practice and teaching
of accounting. Before going to
Florida State University recently
he was head of the Accounting
Department at Rollins College and
before that he headed up the ac-
THE STATE. July 23. 1949
counting Department at the Uni¬
versity of Florida.
His teaching experience also in¬
cludes periods at Duke University
and the universities of Texas,
Colorado, and Illinois. In addition
to this he has served as consultant
for several associations and ac¬
counting firms.
Dr. Beights is a native of Texas,
took an A.B. degree at the Univer¬
sity of Colorado and his doctorate
at the University of Illinois. He
holds CPA certificates from West
Virginia and Florida.
The number of failures on CPA
examinations has been due largely
to the lack of proper preparation
rather than to the severity of the
tests, said sponsors of the Institute,
who pointed out that this course
should give candidates a much
better chance to pass the examina¬
tions.
The Institute also provides an
excellent method of refreshing and
retraining practicing accountants
so that they will be able to handle
bigger jobs.
Enrollment is limited, and appli¬
cations are being received by the
Institutes for business and in¬
dustry. headed by Dr. Rex Winslow
at the University.
All of the men enrolled in last
summer’s Institute were employed,
either as a principal with his own
office or as a junior and were being
given time off for this training.
They were preparing to return to
their jobs with prospects of greater
remuneration.
They were instructed not only in
the fundamentals but also in the
latest developments and improve¬
ments in accounting techniques,
procedures, and practices.
All of these "students” were
from North Carolina, except one,
and seven came from one firm,
A. M. Pullen and Company, which
has offices throughout the South.
The CPA examination, for which
A. T. Allen of Raleigh, president of
the North Carolina Association of
Certified Public Accountants, who
has established in cooperation
with the North Carolina Business
Foundation at the University of
North Carolina, an institute to
train men preparing for CPA ex¬
aminations.
these men were preparing, is a
stiff test and many fall by the way-
side the first time they take it.
The examination requires two and
one-half days and covers general
education, character, theory and
practice of accounting, including
income taxes, and in auditing and
business law.
The idea is that public account¬
ants. like doctors, lawyers, and
dentists, should be required to meet
certain minimum standards before
they are allowed to render profes¬
sional services.
The examinations are prepared
by the American Institute of Ac¬
countants and are now used by 45
states, being given on the same day
in each state so as to provide uni¬
formity.
Most of the states. North Caro¬
lina included, also avail themselves
of the services of the American
Institute in grading the papers,
(Continued on page 20)
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