More Than a Numbers Game (ePub)

The world certainly suffers no shortage of accounting texts. The
many out there help readers prepare, audit, interpret and explain
corporate financial statements. What has been missing is a book
offering context and discussion for divisive issues such as taxes,
debt, options, and earnings volatility. King addresses the
why of accounting instead of the how, providing
practitioners and students with a highly readable history of U.S.
corporate accounting. More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History
of Accounting was inspired by Arthur Levitt's landmark 1998
speech delivered at New York University. The Securities and
Exchange Commission chairman described the too-little challenged
custom of earnings management and presaged the breakdown in the US
corporate accounting three years later.

Somehow, over a one-hundred year period, accounting morphed from
a tool used by American railroad managers to communicate with
absent British investors into an enabler of corporate fraud. How
this happened makes for a good business story. This book is not
another description of accounting scandals. Instead it offers a
history of ideas.

Each chapter covers a controversial topic that emerged over the
past century. Historical background and discussion of people
involved give relevance to concepts discussed. The author shows how
economics, finance, law and business customs contributed to
accounting's development. Ideas presented come from a career spent
working with accounting information.