Photos courtesy of Kerper Bowron.
Kerper Bowron, an actuarial consulting firm founded by Hoover native John Kerper and Mountain Brook native Lee Bowron, has its headquarters at 600 University Park Place in Homewood.
A Birmingham-based consulting firm is drawing attention for a new accounting and financial model designed to modernize how companies manage service contracts and extended warranties.
Kerper Bowron, an actuarial and insurance consulting firm currently operating in Homewood, recently published its patent-pending Kerper Bowron Method in the peer-reviewed journal Risks. The methodology was also featured in the April 2026 issue of Business Alabama.
Lee Bowron
Founded by John Kerper, a Hoover native and John Carroll Catholic High School graduate, and Lee Bowron, a Mountain Brook High School graduate, the firm has spent more than two decades developing the system, which is intended to help businesses more accurately estimate costs and revenue tied to service contracts, including vehicle extended warranties, appliance protection plans andelectronics coverage.
Rather than grouping large numbers of contracts into broad averages, the method evaluates each contract individually using customized calculations and statistical analysis.
“At its heart, the method uses concepts most students learn in high school algebra and statistics but applies them in a new way,” Bowron said. “Instead of averaging thousands of contracts together into one rough curve, it builds a separate, customized equation for each individual contract.”
According to Kerper and Bowron, the approach is designed to improve financial forecasting, strengthen risk management and align with modern accounting standards used throughout the insurance and financial industries.
Bowron said the project also reflects a longstanding Birmingham business legacy.
“My great-grandfather James Bowron was renowned for his financial acumen in stabilizing and growing Birmingham’s early industrial giants through superior accounting practices,” Bowron said. “The Kerper Bowron Method carries that legacy forward by transforming service contract accounting with data-driven, probabilistic precision — moving beyond outdated aggregates to individual contract-level estimates for better decision-making and risk management.”
Kerper and Bowron say the methodology aligns with accounting standards including Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 for revenue recognition and International Financial Reporting Standard 17, a comprehensive international accounting standard for insurance contracts. Company leaders also believe the model could eventually create new opportunities involving lending and financial products tied to service-contract portfolios.
While the concept has potential applications across national and international markets, the founders say maintaining roots in the Birmingham area has remained important. The business has operated in several Birmingham-area locations over the years, including Mountain Brook, before establishing its current operations in Homewood.
John Kerper
Bowron, a longtime Mountain Brook resident and 1985 graduate of MBHS, credited his education for helping shape the mathematical foundation behind the project.
“I’m deeply grateful for the strong foundation I received through my education in the Mountain Brook school system, especially the rigorous algebra instruction that stayed with me,” Bowron said. “That early grounding proved invaluable as we completed this project more than 40 years after graduation in 1985.”
Kerper, Bowron and their affiliated company, Irish Trinity, jointly hold the intellectual property connected to the methodology.
Although the model is still in the early stages of broader industry adoption, the company says interest has increased following publication in Risks and growing visibility through online academic and artificial intelligence research platforms.
