Product Description

A withering exposé of the unethical practices that triggered the indictment and collapse of the legendary accounting firm.

Arthur Andersen's conviction on obstruction of justice charges related to the Enron debacle spelled the abrupt end of the 88-year-old accounting firm. Until recently, the venerable firm had been regarded as the accounting profession's conscience. In Final Accounting, Barbara Ley Toffler, former Andersen partner-in-charge of Andersen's Ethics & Responsible Business Practices consulting services, reveals that the symptoms of Andersen's fatal disease were evident long before Enron. Drawing on her expertise as a social scientist and her experience as an Andersen insider, Toffler chronicles how a culture of arrogance and greed infected her company and led to enormous lapses in judgment among her peers. Final Accounting exposes the slow deterioration of values that led not only to Enron but also to the earlier financial scandals of other Andersen clients, including Sunbeam and Waste Management, and illustrates the practices that paved the way for the accounting fiascos at WorldCom and other major companies.

Chronicling the inner workings of Andersen at the height of its success, Toffler reveals "the making of an Android," the peculiar process of employee indoctrination into the Andersen culture; how Androids—both accountants and consultants--lived the mantra "keep the client happy"; and how internal infighting and "billing your brains out" rather than quality work became the all-important goals. Toffler was in a position to know when something was wrong. In her earlier role as ethics consultant, she worked with over 60 major companies and was an internationally renowned expert at spotting and correcting ethical lapses. Toffler traces the roots of Andersen's ethical missteps, and shows the gradual decay of a once-proud culture.

Uniquely qualified to discuss the personalities and principles behind one of the greatest shake-ups in United States history, Toffler delivers a chilling report with important ramifications for CEOs and individual investors alike.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #272295 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-13
• Released on: 2004-04-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The doomed accounting firm of Arthur Andersen emerges as a grown-up version of Lord of the Flies in this fascinating insider exposé. Toffler, a Columbia Business School professor and an expert on management ethics, provides an engrossing history of the accounting firm, from its early days as an icon of financial probity to its demise after a drumroll of accounting scandals culminating in the Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies. But the book's greatest strength is the author's first-hand account of corporate corruption. Toffler spent four years at Andersen selling ethics consulting services to clients while her own ethics were affronted and compromised by the atmosphere at Andersen. As a consultant, Toffler wasn't involved in the auditing shenanigans that brought Andersen down, but there was sleaze a-plenty-outrageous over-billing and forcefully selling consulting services clients didn't need-in her bailiwick. Her observations of this sordid milieu, of bullying bosses, desperate sales pitches, jockeying for power and demeaning motivational hoopla, are both funny and revealing. Looking beyond the "bad apples" to the "rotten culture," Toffler blames Andersen's problems on an ethos of conformity and deference to senior managers, bizarre compensation schemes that set partners at each other's throats, and the relentless pressure for lucrative consulting tie-ins that made auditors acquiesce in clients' fraudulent bookkeeping. The result is a case study in "group dependency," in which moral chaos mounts as good people do nothing. Toffler's acerbic wit and keen analysis make this essential reading for anyone concerned with the profit-driven turpitude of corporate America.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Since Toffler was formerly the partner-in-charge of ethics and responsible business practices consulting services at Arthur Andersen, she'll have a lot to say.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"The sad demise of the once proud and disciplined firm of Arthur Andersen is an object lesson in how 'infectious greed' and conflicts of interest can bring down the best. Final Accounting should be required reading in every business school, beginning with the dean and the faculty that set the tone and culture.?
-Paul Volker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board

?This exciting tale chronicles how greed and competitive frenzy destroyed Arthur Andersen--a firm long recognized for independence and integrity. It details a culture that, in the 1990s, led to unethical and anti-social behavior by executives of many of America's most respected companies. The lessons of this book are important for everyone, particularly for a new breed of corporate leaders anxious to restore public confidence.?
-Arthur Levitt, Jr., former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission

?This may be the most important analysis coming out of the corporate disasters of 2001 and 2002. Barbara Toffler is trained to understand corporate ?cultures? and ?business ethics? (not an oxymoron). She clearly lays out how a high performance, manically driven and once most respected auditing firm was corrupted by the excesses of consulting and an arrogant culture. One can hope that the leaders of all professional service firms, and indeed all corporate leaders, will read and reflect on the meaning of this book.?
-John H. Biggs, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA CREF

?The book exposes the pervasive hypocrisy that drives many professional service firms to put profits above professionalism. Greed and hubris molded Arthur Andersen into a modern-day corporate junkie ... a monster whose self-destructive behavior resulted in its own demise."
-Todd Rodenhauser, founder and president of Consulting Information Services, LLC

"An intriguing tale that adds another important dimension to the now pervasive national corporate governance conversation. 
-Charles M. Elson, Edgar S. Woolard, Jr., Professor of Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
 
?You could not ask for a better guide to the fall of Arthur Andersen than an expert on organizational behavior and business ethics who actually worked there. Sympathetic but resolutely objective, Toffler was enough of an insider to see what went on but enough of an outsider to keep her perspective clear. This is a tragic tale of epic proportions that shows that even institutions founded on integrity and transparency will lose everything unless they have internal controls that require everyone in the organization to work together, challenge unethical practices, and commit only to profitability that is sustainable over the long term. One way to begin is by reading this book.
?Nell Minow, Editor, The Corporate Library


From the Hardcover edition. -- Review

Customer Reviews

Biased, Hypocritical & Untruthful in Part
I had the displeasure of meeting Ms. Toffler a number of times at Andersen. Her personality made Leona Helmsley seem like Miss Manners by comparison. She was abrupt and rude to almost everyone she met and would never have fitted in at any large professional firm. Her antipathy to Andersen makes her book so biased as to lack credibility. It seems oriented more to profitable revenge than to providing insight. I know at least one of her descriptions in the book is factually untrue but her fiction makes for a more entertaining read. A pity this "ethics consultant" didn't walk the talk herself. A career as a writer for the National Enquirer seems a better fit.

If you want insights rather than insults, buy "Inside Arthur Andersen" instead. It is written by people skilled in analyzing organizational behavior, appears to be far more objective despite the authors' positions within Andersen, is better researched, and identifies and explains the issues well. It also shows that the key issues affect other firms too, not just Andersen. That book should be required reading for all CPAs, accounting professors and students.

Physician, heal thyself...
This is an odd book, because it's actually two separate books in one cover. The first book, which is essentially a short history of the rise and fall of Arthur Andersen, was no doubt written by the ghostwriter, Jennifer Reingold, and is actually fairly informative. This is the part that gets the three stars - not great by any means, but at least informative.

The second book is interspersed with the first, and purports to be a scathing indictment of the culture of Arthur Andersen, a respected American institution that was subverted and destroyed by arrogance and greed. It's easy to read a lot into this story, since it's really just the current American business ethic in microcosm. Nothing matters here but greed and taking pleasure in stepping in the other guy's face.

What's interesting here is the fact that Barbara Toffler, who clearly considers herself to be an "ethics expert", openly confesses that she was just as ruthless and greedy as everyone else at Andersen. But the reader is left wondering if she ever really quite gets it - does she understand she's just as morally culpable as the Andersen partners she eviscerates? She certainly doesn't seem to be too troubled by her own long list of questionable actions, in any case. The old joke about the definition of "chutzpah" being a person who murders his parents and then pleads for mercy because he's an orphan gets an update here: an unethical peddlar of "ethical services" who turns a quick buck by selling her story. You might feel like taking a shower after you finish this one.

Very Erratic
Final Accounting: Ambition, Greed and the Fall of Arthur Andersen is sort of like a hamburger served at a cheap fast food restaurant. It has plenty of bread at both ends but not much meat midway through.

Barbara Toffler gives a good introduction to whats it is like to interview and train for Arthur Andersen. She gives valuable insight of the mentoring relationships as well and how things sometimes changed rapid fire for her. In addition, it was quite interesting to note how the Audit and Consulting groups never seemd to play for the same team.

However, midway through the book, the reading becomes quite a chore. Way too much repetition about the author's inability to generate sufficient revenues. Toffler does not distinguish herself as a Big Person within Arthur Andersen as she merely makes excuses that anyone reading this review could make. The chapters on massive billing are such a bore. This issue happens everyday at law firms. Anyone who has every watched LA Law would know this. The repeated obstacles that Toffler faced really could have happened anywhere.

All of a sudden, Toffler jumps into the Enron and MCI incidents without sufficient detail. Why did Duncan order the paper shredding? Furthermore, the dry writing style makes it nearly impossible for an outsider to maintain their attention span. Its like you had either work for Arthur Andersen or a similar firm to even relate.

The conclusion to Final Accounting is decent. Toffler is fair in her judgement and places some blame on her own shoulders. However, there are way too many questions left unanswered. Overall, a better book still needs to be written on this subject that will appeal to the average worker in a large corporation.