THE INFLUENCE OF TAX LEGISLATION ON FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING: A STUDY OF THE TIMBER INDUSTRY, 1905–1925

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-57
Author(s):  
Robert C. Elmore
Keyword(s):  
Cost Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Asset Valuation ◽  
Timber Industry ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Tax Legislation ◽  
Tax Laws ◽  
Cost Accounting System

The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial accounting records of a Mississippi timber company and its subsidiaries in light of the dynamic tax environment of the period 1905 to 1925. The financial accounting records and correspondence with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue indicate deficiencies in the following areas: asset valuation, a lack of a cost accounting system to adequately value inventories, and the depletion and depreciation deduction. The demands of the new tax laws were often in conflict with the accounting practices of this period of time forcing changes in accounting practice.

account was developed from an analysis of the various elements to be accounted for. The logic that prevailed in the selection of the order of presentation of charges was based on the distinction be­ tween the major economic and financial operations usually con­ ducted by the firm. First, production operations necessitate the purchase of material, the payment of wages to employees and of taxes to the state, and the incurring of various operating expenses. Next, a category was created to register financial charges resulting from the firm’s financing policy. Finally, a category was devoted to the cost of permanent productive means related to the period: depreciation of fixed assets. On the revenue side of the trading account, resources coming from the sale of production or pur­ chased goods were shown first, since they result from the primary activity of the firm. Next, sales revenues from two secondary sources were shown in separate categories. Production by the firm of its own fixed assets, which was considered revenue since it represented a transfer of charges to the balance sheet, also ap­ peared under a separate heading. Finally, a category was allocated to revenues from financial operations such as interest and divi­ dends. Aside from financial accounting provisions, the plan con­ tained an important section on cost accounting. As mentioned earlier in the case of the CNOF Plan, to maximize both the stan­ dardization of financial accounting and the flexibility and adapt­ ability of the cost accounting system, the plan reserved a separate class for cost accounts, number 9. Separation of cost accounting also favored the progressive introduction of cost accounting, with­ out delaying the application of the financial accounting section of the plan. The role assigned to cost accounting by the plan was threefold, including the periodic determination of: 1. The cost of manufactured or purchased products; 2. Inventories, using the perpetual inventory method; 3. The results of operations by each branch or subdivision of the firm's activities In the general plan, a main structure for industrial accounting was prescribed, leaving the problem of application to particular cases to company plans. Two measures ensured the flexibility and adaptability of the plan. First of all, the use of the decimal system meant that any account could be subdivided by adding extra digits to the account number. Secondly, the free accounts left in the general plan could be used to fill specific needs. 294

2014 ◽  
pp. 350-350
Keyword(s):  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Cost Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financing Policy ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
General Plan ◽  
Fixed Assets ◽  
Perpetual Inventory Method ◽  
Cost Accounting System ◽  
The Cost

separate double-entry system. Separation of cost accounting from financial accounting was believed to be essential. The reasons that were given then for this separation seem still valid today in view of the maintenance of the same practice in the 1982 Accounting Plan. The most important justifications were the following: 1. It facilitated the establishment and further modification of the cost accounting system; 2. In cases where there were modifications in production or in the company structure, the cost accounts could be adapted without modifying the plan for financial ac­ counting, thus preserving the inter-firm comparability of the financial information, as well as its comparability over time; 3. Charges included in product prices could differ from ex­ penditures registered in financial accounting; 4. The use of contra-accounts allowed complete freedom in cost accounting; the transformation of data for the compu­ tation of product prices and the determination of results of operations could thus be done freely without altering the original accounts [CNOF, 1947, pp. 32-34, 99]. The CNOF Plan was very well designed; however, to preserve the recent tradition introduced by the 1942 Plan, only some of its features were retained in the 1947 Plan. The influence of the CNOF Plan and of the 1942 Plan on the 1947 Plan will be consid­ ered after introducing the latter. THE 1947 ACCOUNTING PLAN As the first official plan drafted after the Liberation, the 1947 Plan constituted the real beginning of accounting normalization in France. It was initially designed for industrial and commercial undertakings, but with the intention of adapting the plan to all sectors of the economy. The ultimate goal of the Committee for the Normalization of Accounting was to create a system that would allow the summation of the accounts of all economic units, thereby facilitating the preparation of national accounts. The Committee was headed by its vice-president, Turpin, who was secretary of the Central Committee for Prices. The secretary of the Committee was Pujol, a state economic expert and former secretary of the adaptation committee for the 1942 Plan. Among the sub-committees that were formed to work on specific topics, the three most important ones were the sub-committee on prin­ ciples, definitions and rules, headed by Fourastie and Lauzel; the

2014 ◽  
pp. 344-344
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Cost Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Economic Expert ◽  
System 2 ◽  
Cost Accounting System ◽  
The Cost ◽  
System Separation ◽  
Double Entry
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