Accounting in the National-Defense Program.

Abstract In the face of all the exciting and absorbing economic, military, and political aspects of the defense program, it is difficult to confine a talk to the prosaic and humdrum affairs which are supposed to be of interest to accountants. One of the obvious effects of the defense program of interest to accountants is the increased demand for accounting services. One of the important questions faced by those who are charged with making defense expenditures is how to contract for the necessary commodities and services. The traditional governmental purchasing technique is by competitive bidding, with very few exceptions. This method is intended to give the government the lowest possible price and to eliminate favoritism and collusion in the award of government business. However, it is slow and cumbersome, and it works best when the quantities of goods ordered are small enough to fit into production programs without too much of an upset. The advantages of negotiation are speed and flexibility. Work on many contracts can actually be gotten under way before all plans, specifications, quantities, delivery dates, and other features of the deal are completely worked out. Also the negotiated contract makes it possible for the contracting officers to take into consideration many matters other than price which have seemed important to the Defense Commission.