Sharon Bonk, Column Editor Collection Development and Serials Administration

Accounting Journals: Tools for Reference and Collection Development

Karen Chapman

Chapman is assistant commerce l ibrarian at the Commerce Library , Univers i ty of Illinois at U r b a n a - C h a m p a i g n .

As every l ibrarian knows, professional journals are an excellent source of accurate informat ion in a field and a valuable tool for following trends and staying abreast of new developments . This certainly holds true in the field of accounting. There are numerous account ing periodicals, many of them indexed, to which the l ibrarian can refer a patron.

Periodicals can also pe r fo rm other important funct ions for the librarian; they can be very useful tools in the areas of re ference and collection de- velopment . Many accounting periodicals run regular columns on the off icial accounting pronouncements . These pronouncements , which set the standards for the accounting profession, have been issued by four successive bodies over the past f i f ty years. Other bodies have issued documents that interpret or comment on the pronouncements . Access to the resulting array of publicat ions is essential, and accounting periodicals are a means for gaining that access. Columns in accounting periodicals can be valuable resources in t racking down, dating, or ver i fy ing a part icular pronouncement . Other accounting periodicals regularly include columns of book reviews. These reviews of ten list publications Of professional associations, which librarians might otherwise have d i f f icul ty locating.

The following discussion and bibl iography de- scribe about twenty account ing periodicals that are useful tools for the l ibrarian in the areas of reference and collection development .

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REFERENCE

The two most useful accounting periodicals for reference purposes are Accountants Digest and Journal of Accountancy. The former contains two regular columns that are quite valuable, the first of which is "CPA Requirements." This column gives the CPA examination eligibility requirements and examination conditions as reported by the various state boards for public accountancy. This information includes such things as minimum age and education required in each state for entering accounting practice. The addresses and telephone numbers of the state boards are sometimes in- cluded. The other column, "Current Status of Of- ficial Pronouncements," is especially useful to li- brarians. It indicates the date of issue, number, title, and address of issuing body for the official pronouncements of the International Accounting Standards Committee, International Foundation of Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Accounting Stan- dards Board (FASB), Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), Accounting Standards Committee, and Accounting Principles Board. This is one of the most comprehensive such lists pub- lished on a regular basis. Since patrons frequently confuse not only the pronouncements of one body with those of another body, but also documents of different types issued by the same body, but also documents of different types issued by the same body, this list can be used to verify the exact title of the document needed.

The Journal of Accountancy also has two reg- ular columns that can be used in answering ac- counting reference questions. "Exposure Drafts Outstanding" augments the list described above by giving the issue date, issuing body, title or de- scription, and comment deadline for the outstand- ing exposure drafts of FASB, GASB, Accounting Standards Executive Committee of the AICPA, Ac- counting and Review Services Committee of the AICPA, Auditing Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Committee, International Foundation of Accountants, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The addresses of these bodies are also provided for ordering purposes. The column "Official Releases" publishes newly issued pronouncements, in full text if space per- mits. This is particularly useful for libraries that do not have subscriptions for the pronouncements with the various professional accounting organiza- tions.

Other periodicals are less comprehensive in their contributions, but are still well worth noting. Status Report, a title in the Financial Accounting Foundation's Financial Accounting Series, gives highlights of the current activities of the Financial

Accounting Standards Board. Pronouncements is- sued during the most recent quarter are named. SEC Docket contains the full texts of releases from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Manage- ment Accounting publishes the full texts of the National Association of Accountants's "Statements of Management Accounting" as they are issued. The official journal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Accountancy, includes a section entitled "Institute," which publishes official reports and pronouncements of the institute as they are released. Finally, Australian Accountant occasionally runs a column that lists or describes the projects and official documents of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

An even larger number of accounting period- icals include columns that are important tools in collection development. Four stand out. The Ac- counting Review, published by the American Ac- counting Association, is the most comprehensive source of information on the current accounting literature. The column "Book Reviews" provides several substantial, signed reviews; "Capsule Com- mentaries" gives several more signed reviews, usually somewhat shorter, and "Books Received..." lists the numerous titles received for reviewing. "Software Summaries" is the software counterpart to the "Book Reviews" column, the contents of the most recent issues of about ten related periodicals are reported in "Contents of Accounting Research Journals." The final advertisement pages may include as many as twenty-five publishers' advertisements, usually for textbooks. The American Accounting Association also lists the titles and prices of its own publications in these pages.

The Journal of the American Taxation Associa- tion also has several columns that can be used in collection development. "Book Reviews" contains eight to ten lengthy signed reviews, and "Tax Soft- ware Reviews" contains two or three similar reviews for software. "Doctoral Research in Taxation" gives abstracts of doctoral dissertations, submitted by their authors. A handful of recent doctoral disserta- tions are also described in the column "Doctoral Research" in The Accounting Historians Journal. Another column, "Book Reviews," usually presents one lengthy review essay followed by about eight fairly substantial reviews. "Capsule Comments" sometimes follows with about three short reviews. All reviews are signed.

Accountant's Magazine, published by the Insti- tute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, runs three columns of reviews, any combination of which might appear in a single issue. "Books Received"

34 SERIALS REVIEW SUMMER 1987

is simply a list of books received for review. "Publications" tends to list more technical docu- ments with br ie f descriptions. "Book Review Sup- plement" gives about a dozen signed reviews. Be- cause the periodical is British in origin, the ma- terials listed and reviewed are f rom a mixture of American and British publishers. Prices are stated in British pounds.

Occasionally a periodical issued by a profes- sional organization can be used to monitor the organization's other publications; as stated above, The Accounting Review includes a list of publica- tions of the American Account ing Association. CPA Letter, a publication of the AICPA, announces new publications of that body and several others, including the FASB and the International Federa- tion of Accountants. Publications of the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association are listed in that body's periodical, The Interpreter. Price Waterhouse Review lists current Price Waterhouse publications inside the back cover. This is an especially useful resource, since many of these items are available on request.

Journals issued by foreign professional ac- counting organizations also contain reviews of books published in their home countries. CA Mag- azine, a publication of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, has a section named "In Print" as part of its "News" column. "In Print" may include several brief , unsigned reviews, almost half of which are of Canadian materials. Account- ing and Business Research, a publication of the Institute of Char tered Accountants in England and Wales, runs a book review column with six to eight substantial signed reviews. Accountancy, the o f f i - cial journal of the institute, publishes a few signed reviews and a list of books received for reviewing. The l ibrary of the Institute of Chartered Accoun- tants in Australia provides a bibliography of se- lected current materials for the "Library Update" column in The Chartered Accountant in Australia.

Other accounting periodicals publish fewer or shorter reviews, but are still worthwhile sources for collection development. Journal of Accountan- cy publishes one lengthy signed review and a number of short unsigned reviews. The Internal Auditor usually contains about half a dozen brief, signed reviews. Reviews of f ive or six books re- ceived in the l ibrary of the National Association of Accountants are published in Management Ac- counting. About seven government auditing pub- lications are described br ief ly in each issue of In- ternational JOurnal of Government Auditing. The "Current Literature" section of National Public Ac- countant contains a few short reviews, as does "Accountant 's Bookshelf" in The Practical Accoun- tant. "Recent Tax Literature" in Journal of Taxa- tion and "Tax Li terature of Interest to Accoun-

tants" in Taxation for Accountants brief ly describe about ten items each. Many of these are articles in law journals, but each list usually includes two or three books.

The following section provides complete bib- liographical informat ion on the periodicals described above.

JOURNALS LIST

Accountancy." The Journal of the Institute of Char- tered Accountants in England and Wales. 1889-

M. $26.80. Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, PO Box 433, Moorgate Place, London EC2P 2B J, England (Subscr. address: 40 Bernard St., London WC1N 1LD, England). Ed: G eo f f r ey Holmes. Circ: 67,000. Indexed: B.P.I., Excerp. Med., Sci, Abst.,. AAR, Bus. Ind., BPIA, High. Educ. Currc. Aware. Bull., Mgmt. & Market. Abstr., Manage. Cont., PROMT. ISSN 0001-4664.

This journal publishes newly released official pronouncements of the institute. It also includes a few signed reviews and a list of books received.

Accountants Digest. 1935-. Q. $20. School of Accounting, College of Business and Public Admini- stration, Florida Atlantic Universi ty, Boca Raton, FL 33431. Ed: Carl Dennler. Circ: 1,400. Indexed: Intl. Mgmt. lnfo. ISSN 0001-4737.

This title contains CPA examination conditions and eligibility requirements and, occasionally, the addresses and telephone numbers of the state boards of accountancy. It presents a comprehensive list of the official pronouncements of a number of nation- al and international professional accounting organiza- tions.

Accountant's Magazine. 1897-. M. $17. (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland). Accountants ' Publishing Co. Ltd., 27 Queen St., Edinburgh EH2 ILA, Scotland. Ed: Winifred Elliott. Circ: 13,500. Indexed: Excerp. Med., AAR, Anbar, Manage. Serv. Abstr., Bus. Ind., BPIA, Intl. Mgmt. Info., Manage. Cont. ISSN 0001-4761.

This journal may contain a list of books re- ceived for reviews, br ief descriptions of technical publications, about a dozen signed reviews, or all of these.

Accounting and Business Research. 1970-. Q. $47.19. Institute of Chartered Accountants in Eng- land and Wales, PO Box 433, Moorgate Place, London EC2P 2B J, England (Subscr. address: 40 Bernard St., London WC1N 1LD, England). Ed: R. Parker. Circ: 1,000. Indexed: B.P.I., Excerp. Med., P.A.I.S., Anbar, Bus. Ind., BPIA, High. Educ. Curr. Aware. Bull., Mgmt. & Market. Abstr., Manage. Cont. ISSN

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0001-4788. This periodical publishes six to eight substan-

tial signed reviews. The current contents of about half a dozen periodicals are scattered through the journal.

The Accounting Historians Journal. 1974-. $20 (membership). S-A. Academy of Accounting His- torians, c/o A.R. Roberts, Secretary, Box 658, Uni- versity Plaza, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303. Ed: Kenneth S. Most. Circ: 600. In- dexed: D.A., AAR.

This title contains one lengthy review essay, about eight other reviews, and a few short reviews, all signed. An annotated bibliography provides descriptions of several recent dissertations in the field.

The Accounting Review. 1926-. Q. $25. Amer- ican Accounting Association, Paul L. Gerhardt, Admin. Secy., 5717 Bessie Dr., Sarasota, FL 33583. Ed: Stephen A. Zeff. Circ: 18,500. Indexed: B.P.I., Curr. Cont., SSCI, AAR, Anbar, Bus. Ind., BPIA, ASCA, Bk, Rev. Ind., Intl. Mgmt. Info., Comput. Lit. Ind., High. Educ. Curr. Aware. Bull., Mgmt. & Market. Abstr., Manage. Cont., PROMT. ISSN 0001-4826.

This journal includes several substantial, signed reviews, followed by a number of shorter signed reviews and an extensive list of books re- ceived. It also includes substantial signed software reviews and the current contents of about ten other accounting periodicals. The advertising pages contain a large number of publishers' adver- tisements, usually for textbooks, and a list of the publications of the association.

Australian Accountant. 1936-. M. Aus $46. Aus- tralian Society of Accountants, 170 Queen St., Melbourne 3000, Australia. Ed: Neil McMaster. Circ: 67,179. Indexed: AAR, Anbar, Aus.P.A.I.S. ISSN 0004-8631.

This periodical regularly reports on official documents and projects of the Australian Account- ing Research Foundation.

CA Magazine. 1911-. M. Can $24 ($36). Can- adian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 150 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ont. M5S 2YZ, Canada. Ed: N. Luscombe. Circ: 54,229. Indexed: B.P.I., P.A.I.S., Sci. Abstr., AAR, Anbar, Bus. Ind., BPIA, Abstr. Health Care Manage. Stud., Can. B.P.I., Can. Ind., Data Process. Dig., Manage. Cont. ISSN 0317-6878.

This journal contains a number of brief, un- signed reviews, several of them for Canadian pub- lications.

The Chartered Accountant in Australia. 1930-.

l 1/yr. Aus $30. Institute of Chartered Accoun- tants in Australia, Box 3921, Sydney 2001, Aus- tralia. Ed: Jo Avigdor. Circ: 17,500. Indexed: AAR, Anbar, Aus.P.A.LS., Comput. Rev. ISSN 0009- 1898.

A bibliography of selected current books and articles available from the library of the institute is given.

CPA Letter. 1920-. Bi-M. $45. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-8775. Ed: Roderic A. Parnell. Circ: 245,000. ISSN 0094-792X.

CPA Letter reports on the activities of the AICPA and official accounting bodies. It also an- nounces new publications of the AICPA, the FASB, and others.

The Internal Auditor. 1944-. Bi-M. Institute of Internal Auditors, 249 Maitland Ave., Box 1119, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701. Ed: Ceel Pasternak. Circ: 30,000. Indexed: B.P.I., Excerp. Med., Anbar, Bus. Ind., BPIA, Comput. Lit. Ind., Intl. Manage. Info., Manage. Cont., Tr. & Indus. Ind. ISSN 0020- 5745.

This journal contains about six brief, signed reviews.

International Journal of Government Auditing, 1974-. Q. $5. International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, c/o U.S. Government Accounting Office, 441 G. St. NW, Rm. 7131, Washington, DC 20548. Ed: Elaine L. Orr. Circ: 6,500. Indexed: Bus. Ind., BPIA, Manage. Cont. ISSN 0047-0724.

This title includes short descriptions of about seven government auditing publications.

The Interpreter. 1940-. Bi-M. $9 (members). Insurance Accounting and Systems Association, Inc. Internal Office, Mutual Plaza, Durham, NC.

A short list of current IASA publications is provided.

Journal of Accountancy. 1905-. M. $20. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-8775. Ed: Barbara Shildneck. Circ: 275,312. Indexed: B.P.I., Anbar, Curr. Cont., Intl. Mgmt. Info., Data Process. Dig., Exec. Sci. Inst., SSCI, Bus. Ind., Account. Ind., BPIA, Abstr. Bk. Rev. Curr. Leg. Per., C.L.I., Comput. Lit. Ind., High. Educ. Curr. Aware. Bull., P.A.I.S., L.R.I., Mgmt. & Market. ABstr., Manage. Cont., PROMT, Risk Abstr., SSCI, Tr. & Indus. Ind. ISSN 0021-8448.

This journal provides a list of outstanding exposure drafts of the major accounting bodies, including the comment deadlines. The addresses of the bodies are provided. It publishes full texts

36 SERIALS REVIEW SUMMER 1987

of new pronouncements when space permits, and includes several short, unsigned reviews and a longer signed review.

Journal of Taxation. 1954-. M. $125. Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 210 South St., Boston, MA 02111. Ed: Ronald M. Klinger. Circ: 17,873. In- dexed: B.P.I., Curr. Cont., Leg. Per., P.A.I.S., SSCI, Bus. Ind., BPIA, C.L.I,, L.R.I., Manage. Cont., Tr. & Indus. Ind. ISSN 0022-4863.

This periodical includes about ten very brief descriptions of tax-related items, only two or three of which are books.

Journal of the American Taxation Association. 1978-. S.A. $40 (2 yrs). American Taxation As- sociation, c/o American Accounting Association, 5717 Bessie Dr., Sarasota, FL 33583. Ed: Jane O. Burns. ISSN 0198-9073.

This journal contains eight to ten signed re- views, a few signed software reviews, and abstracts of several doctoral dissertations.

Management Accounting. 1919-. M. $54 to non- members. National Association of Accountants, 10 Paragon Dr., Box 433, Montvale, NJ 07645. Ed: Erwin S. Koval. Circ: 93,025. Indexed: B.P.I., Anbar, Intl. Mgmt. Info., Data Process. Dig., Eng. Ind., Sci. Abstr., Bus. Ind., BPIA, Comput. Lit. Ind.,. P.A.I.S., Key to Econ. Sci., Manage. Cont., Tr. & Indus. Ind. ISSN 0025-1690.

This title may publish the full text of the association's Statements on Management Accounting when issued. It contains a few signed reviews of books received in the association's library.

National Public Accountant. 1949-. M. $12 to nonmembers. National Society of Public Accoun- tants, 1010 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Ed: Mary Zitello. Circ: 18,000. Indexed: Bus. Ind., BPIA, Manage. Cont. ISSN 0027-9978.

This periodical includes a few brief reviews.

The Practical Accountant. 1967-. M. $42. In- stitute for Continuing Professional Development, Inc., 904 Third Ave., New York, NY 10155. Eds: Robert A. Behren, Alex Cohen. Circ: 45,422. In- dexed: B.P.I., Bus. Ind., BPIA, Manage. Cont., PROMT. ISSN 0032-6321.

The Practical Accountant includes three or four brief reviews.

Price Waterhouse Review. Vol. 10, 1976. Q. Price Waterhouse, 1251 Ave. of the Americas, New York,, NY 10020. Ed: Arden Eidell. Circ: controlled. Indexed: P.A.I.S., Sci. Abstr., Intl. Manage. Info., Data Process. Dig., Comput. Lit. Ind.

A list of the current publications of Price Waterhouse appears inside the back cover. Many of the items are available upon request.

SEC Docket. 1973-. W. $79. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 500 N. Capitol St., NW, Washington, DC 20549. (Orders to: Supt. of Docu- ments, Washington, DC 20402). Circ: 12,500. ISSN 0091-4061.

SEC Docket publishes full texts of releases from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Status Report. A title in Financial Accounting Series. No. 164, 1985. M. Financial Accounting Standards Board, High Ridge Park, Box 3821, Stam- ford, CT 06905-0821. ISSN 0885-9051/0149-8452.

This periodical reports on the quarterly activities of the FASB, including pronouncements issued.

Taxation for Accountants. 1966-. M. $79.50. Warren, Gorham & Lamont, 210 South St., Boston, MA 02111. Ed: Norman A. Kanter. Circ: 21,000. Indexed: P.A.I.S., Bus. Ind., BPIA, LII, Manage. Cont. ISSN 0040-0165.

This journal contains brief annotations of about ten items including two or three books.

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