Reviewed by Thomas J. Burns The Ohio State University
In the Epilogue, Lord Benson says he is loyal to the following prayer (and his autobiography surely reflects it):
Not the quarry, but the chase, Not the laurel, but the race,
Not the hazard, but the play, Make me, Lord, enjoy always.
This delightful book is the personal history of an accountant who seems to have done everything and enjoyed every minutes. Born in South Africa, his mother was a poor relative of the Coopers accounting family; while a boy on a trip to England, the family decided he would enter the firm as a clerk when 17. He did, qualified as a chartered accountant at 23, and became a partner at 25 (due to ability and, as he reports, nepotism). He went on to become the English head of the firm, conduct investigations throughout the world for his firm, for the Bank of England, and the government, even chairing the first International Accounting Standards Committee. A listing of special assignments and appointments covers six pages including his election as the only living nonAmerican to The Ohio State University Accounting Hall of Fame in 1984.
His personal life has been equally rewarding. Married for 50 years, he has three children (one who is in what seems to be the family firm, Coopers & Lybrand), and nine grandchildren (a photo of eight nude on a slide is included). A sportsman who developed a middleaged passion for sailing, he has taken the entire family on safari in Africa and sailing in the Greek Isles. Determined, he took 52 years to catch a single expensive salmon but he seems to enjoy it all in this fully packed life. He is a good carpenter in his spare time and enjoys making cabinets.
This account of his life is far more candid than any other accountant has written and also includes his frank opinions on many issues including those of accounting, business, politics, society and life in general. He traveled more than a million miles on business alone by planes, cars, taxis, camels, river boats, ocean liners, trains, rickshaws and by foot, mostly to open offices overseas and to ensure such offices maintained standards.
Illustrative of this account of a life at the top is his description of how to conduct a large scale investigation. He starts by breaking the subject down into a number of topics. Next a list is made of the information needed under each topic. Prepare a series of questions (sometimes 1,500) for which answers are needed. Make a list of the people needed to see and in what order. Interview with tape recording (or a skilled associate). Transcribe notes immediately. Test recommendations against evidence. Expect five or six drafts of the report with the “… first preliminary draft put together by a junior partner …” [p. 86]. Finally use common sense.
Fraud has been a subject of considerable concern. His audit cases on this subject include one in Hong Kong which took three years of his expert witnessing. He also had service on the Roskill Committee which made suggestions on how to improve criminal procedures for fraud.
When told that an Australian accounting student audience was only interested in sex and crime, he told them that he was out of date on the one and shy about the other. But, he told them, you will never be paid enough until you are old (when you will be overpaid), you will often be offered bribes, not in money, but in flattery, your colleagues can be helpful if you let them and you should truly cherish your independence.
The following four lines epitomizes everything important to him:
I would be true, for there are those who trust me; I would be pure, for there are those who care; I would be strong, for there is much to suffer; I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
When he retired from the firm, he was with the Bank of England for eight years. For centuries this bank fired employees who refused to work on Sundays or who joined the Roman Catholic Church. He found that the Bank still maintained tight discipline. He first met Mrs. Thatcher, later to become prime minister, when he was called into a cabinet meeting to discuss the financial fate of RollsRoyce. She tried to engage him in private conversation, much to his impatience. When he entered the House of Lords, his maiden speech, most appropriate for an accountant, was on inflation.
In a negotiation valuing shares, he tossed a coin with his opponent, a partner in another large firm, about whether to add an extra million pounds. Benson lost. He and an associate arranged for the merger with the American firm of Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery in 1957. From 1945 to 1975 (when he retired), the firm, now Coopers & Lybrand, grew from eight offices worldwide to 332.
As the first chairman of the IASC which develops standards, he recommends first, “that those standards need to be tighter and the alternatives reduced or eliminated … Second, … whenever financial statements are issued to the public they should state whether they comply with international accounting standards and, if they do not, the extent to which the standards have been observed” [p. 113]. He also insists that every accountancy board anywhere needs to do a better job of seeing to it that standards are applied.
Sixteen pages of photos illustrate the book. Included are several cartoons from Punch which use Benson’s name in the captions. Don’t overlook his description of the benefits of a raw mouse sandwich!
