Accountants Dictionary A Comprehensive Encyclopaedia And Direction On All Matters Connected

Author : Francis William Pixley
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330313909
Total Pages : 501 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (139 download)

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Download or read book The Accountant's Dictionary; A Comprehensive Encyclopaedia and Direction on All Matters Connected With the Work of an Accountant written by Francis William Pixley and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-24 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Accountant's Dictionary; A Comprehensive Encyclopaedia and Direction on All Matters Connected With the Work of an Accountant, Vol. 2 This subject is one of intense interest from whatsoever point it is viewed. Through the pages of History one finds in almost every chapter that there have been persons capable and willing to perpetrate frauds. Perhaps one of the earliest instances of deceit or imposture for this is the meaning assigned to the word fraud in the ordinary dictionary is that of Jacob, who by means which are familiar to all, deliberately deprived his brother Esau of his birthright, with the intention of reaping the benefits which were not his by right. And this is really the motive underlying the majority of frauds, namely, to obtain some advantage which could not be gained by means other than dishonourable. The above incident was one of comparative simplicity in execution, but in the course of time, as nations developed and society became more complex, fraud has also developed and assumed other phases. The simple fraud and plain embezzlement, whilst continuing to a great extent, have also been combined with misstatement and falsification of accounts. It is this modem development of fraud which it is proposed to deal with in the present article. To the professional man engaged in the investigation of the fraud, whether he be counsel, solicitor, or accountant, the preparation of the case against, and possibly the prosecution of the defaulting party, the matter is not only full of interest, but frequently taxes his ski Uto the utmost, whilst underlying all is the human element the pathos and the tragedy in the case. It is in this direction that possibly the accountant has an advantage over his professional friends of the two branches of the legal profession, in that, unless the delinquent has temporarily disappeared, or has passed beyond the bounds of punishment by his fellow men, the accountant must come into closer personal contact with him, and probably also at an earlier stage, than either the solicitor or counsel. In such cases it is the accountant who ascertains where and when the first step was taken which has led to the degradation and social ruin of the delinquent; it is he who ascertains what was the first temptation which led to the falling away from the paths of rectitude, and hears of the vain attempts made to cover up and possibly correct the earUer lapses; to him are probably confided the hopes and ambitions which buoyed up and spurred on the unfortunate defaulter in his earlier days, before the temptation or opportunity came to attain his ends by easier but less honourable means, which have led to such disastrous results, and to him is poured out the poignant sorrow and vain regrets of the broken home and the blank and dismal future all realised, unfortunately, when it is too late to make amends when the one flaw in the possibly otherwise skilfully conceived fabric of fraud has been discovered. It is on this account that the work of the accountant in connection with investigations to discover or unravel fraud is of such deep interest, often tempered with sadness at the causes which led to its inception, and in most cases also tempered with sympathy with the delinquent and those whom he may have also ruined financially and socially in his own fall. Definition Of Fraud. The Courts of Equity, considering that the ways of fraud are infinite, and new modes of committing it are constantly arising, have refused to give a definition of the word. Lawyers, however, have not been so reticent, and various definitions of fraud have been given from time to time, the most comprehensive and generally accepted being probably that of the late Sir William Anson Fraud is a false representation of fact made with a knowledge of its falsehood or recklessly without belief in its truth, with the intention that it should be acted upon by the complaining party and actually inducing him to act upon it. On t...