The Asset Approach to Elementary Accounting.

Abstract The article focuses on the asset approach to elementary accounting. The paper is an attempt at an evaluation of this method in contrast to the usual modes of development in the early stage of presenting an introduction to accounting. The asset approach was planned, at first, to meet the more general needs of the student in the liberal-arts college. It is of equal merit for the business-administration student and for the student interested in accounting as a profession. Needless to say, the use of this departure from the usual approaches has made teachers conscious of weaknesses in the plan that had been followed and has convinced them of certain very definite gains accomplished. Accountants in public practice are recognizing the significance of the economic characteristics of assets in their influence on costs and are adjusting their procedures to the demands of such an emphasis. The natural starting point for the asset approach is not a condensed balance sheet stated in the form of a mathematical equation, but a study of the assets used by business enterprises in the conduct of their affairs.