ABSTRACT
Cost Accounts in Great Britain are popularly regarded as a product of the Great War. Doubtless the needs of the war focussed attention on them, but Cost Accounts existed in Britain, as elsewhere, long before those needs arose. Through the new Companies Act a penalty is being placed on Limited Liability Companies which do not keep certain books of Account. This is a step in the right direction. It will give some protection to shareholders and to those who trade with Limited Liability Companies, but it falls far short of the ideal, which envisages a proper costing system as well as a proper financial system for every business. The Managing Director, of course, is primarily responsible for the administrative work; the success of the business depends on him and on his fellow members of the Board of Directors. Unhappily, it is not yet the universal rule to expect this kind of work from the auditor.
