More Than a Numbers Game (eBook)

THOMAS A. KING is treasurer of Progressive Insurance, which is regarded as one of the most innovative companies in the insurance business. He grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, and studied liberal arts at Harvard College. King worked for three years on the New York audit staff of Arthur Andersen & Co., earned an MS in accounting from New York University, and obtained CPA and CMA certification. After receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School, he joined Progressive Insurance in Cleveland. King spent ten years in marketing and general management before returning to accounting. Since then, he has served as corporate controller, investment strategist, and treasurer. At Progressive, King helped craft financial policies that support business objectives and managed investor relations when the company became the first to report monthly financial results.

About the Cover ix

Preface xi

1 Double-Entry 1

2 Railroads 13

3 Taxes 23

4 Costs 41

5 Disclosure 55

6 Standards 71

7 Science 89

8 Inflation 103

9 Volatility 115

10 Intangibles 131

11 Debt 145

12 Options 159

13 Earnings 171

14 SOX 187

15 Epilogue 207

Notes 213

Bibliography 223

Index 235

About the Author 242

"With his solid credentials--a CPA, CMA and Harvard MBA, as
well as the current treasurer of Progressive Insurance--King
proves himself to be the insider, the historian, the yenta of the
accounting profession. More Than a Numbers Gameoffers enough
insights to give occasional pause even to those who have a real
grasp of the wheres and whys behind the regulations that are dear
to the heart of every practitioner." (Journal of
Accountancy, May 2007)

"The author is at his best when telling stories, whether of the
twists and turns in specific accounting standards from the 1940s to
the present, of the accounting transgressions of Enron, Global
Crossing, WorldCom, and HealthSouth, or of the factors leading to
the demise of Arthur Andersen. ... King's gift for rendering
complex ideas into easily understandable explanations, all in a
conversational style, makes this book accessible to the general
investing public as well.... This refreshing book is a
well-researched, well-written, and intelligent explanation of
modern-day U.S. accounting and how it has evolved to its present
state." (The CPA Journal, April 2007)

"King's chapter on volatility shows how U.S. companies can
account for transactions in foreign currencies three different
ways, all of them legitimate. His chapter about the Sarbanes-Oxley
corporate disclosure laws has an astute analysis of the accounting
frauds at Enron and WorldCom that begat that legislation."
(Newsweek, April 16, 2007)

"This demystifying book is likely to interest corporate folk who
want to understand better the whys of the accounting
practices they use, as well as inquiring investors." (Harvard
Magazine, November-December 2006)

"Inspired by a 1998 speech by former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt,
this book addresses the why of accounting instead of the how,
providing practitioners and students with a highly readable history
of U.S. corporate accounting." (SmartPros Accounting News
& Insights, September 2006)