...Conservative Recognition or Cookie Jar Reserves? A Case Study Analysis July 5, 2013 Case Summary: Nick O’Brian has just finished his college degree and has started working for his aunt’s software company, O’Brian Software. Nick was hired as a junior auditor and has only been on the job for a couple of months. His aunt Amelia started the company as a small firm many years ago and finally went public after the company had grown tremendously. She holds the CEO position and runs the bulk of the business operations. However, Amelia O’Brian does not have a sufficient understanding of the company’s accounting procedures and therefore is not involved in the company’s accounting branch. In general the company seems to function with an air of honesty and integrity. Although the company is family owned, all of the business decisions are made with the consent of the audit committee of the board of directors. Furthermore, Lee Marchetti, the company’s CFO keeps a tight eye on all the financial activity of the company and is recognized as being a trustworthy individual who can ensure that the company’s controls are watertight. The situation is like this: While reviewing some of the company’s software revenue recognition data Nick got the feeling that the estimates were too conservative based on what the company was actually bringing in. He felt that it was possible that the company was creating “cookie jar” reserves to inflate earnings when times weren’t so good. This was especially...
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...Case 1: Conservative Recognition or Cookie Jar Reserves SUMMARY OF THE FACTS Parties Involved: Aunt Amelia – Founder of O’Brian Software, Nick’s aunt and inexperienced in accounting. Nick O’Brian – Junior Internal Auditor, recently college graduate, nephew of the Lee Marchetti – Chief Financial Officer of O’Brian Software. After recently graduating college two months prior, Nick O’Brian is hired as a Junior Internal Auditor for his Aunt Amelia’s company, O’Brian Software. O’Brian Software has been in operations for five years and is a multi-million dollar publicly traded company that provides both software and consulting services to its clients. Although this is Nick’s first position at the company, he’s been involved since the very beginning of this family venture, since family members owned the majority of the stock. Realizing “her specialty is software, not accounting “, Aunt Amelia hires Lee Machete to be Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of O’Brian Software after the firm’s initial public offering (IPO) three years ago. Nick notices a significant amount of unearned revenue the balance sheet and wonders if O’Brian Software is being overly conservative in estimating the amount of deferred income. After having a difficult understanding the firm’s methodology for revenue recognition, Nick decides to talk to Marchetti. In the meeting with Marchetti, Nick states what worries him. “Overly conservative reporting could leave the impression we’re trying to create...
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...CONSERVATIVE RECOGNITION OR COOKIE JAR RESERVES Robin Turner Summary Two months after graduating from college Nick O'Brien started to work in the accounting department at his aunt's software company. While going over some financial statements Nick notices what he believes are revenue recognition issues. Since Nick believes that Lee Marchetti the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of O'Brien Software is an honest man, he decides to have a discussion with him about what he believes are revenue recognition issues. Mr. Marchetti explains to Nick that accounting is not an exact science and that it involves a lot of judgment calls and that O'Brien Software's "deferrals and estimates are well documented and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules" (Conservative Recognition or Cookie Jar Reserves, Carpenter p. 3). After speaking with Mr. Marchetti, Nick decided to still speak with his aunt Amelia about his concerns. Amelia expressed to Nick that she was not very good when it came to accounting matters but she was educated when it came to recognizing revenue and that she believed being conservative was better than overstating. However, she asked Nick if he thought she should mention what he found to the audit committee. Issues/Questions One question that should be addressed surrounds why the CEO Amelia is not aware of certain financial aspects of her business. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires the chief executive officer (CEO) and the chief financial...
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...O’Brian Software. Nick is going over the financial statements when he recognizes some questionable revenue recognition issues. Nick proceeds to address his concerns with the chief financial officer of the company, Lee Marchetti. Lee explains to Nick how revenue recognition is broken down and that a lot of information and judgment is involved. It is also pointed out that since the company went public three years ago they have consistently received ‘clean’ opinions from external auditors. Nick admits that Marchetti strikes him as a honest man with years of experience. Out of concern for his aunt’s company he approached his aunt, who is not known for her accounting expertise, but is the CEO of O’Brian Software. After explaining his concerns she asked Nick whether or not they should present this information to the audit committee. Issues/Questions The initial question is whether or not the audit committee should be made aware of Nick’s revenue recognition concerns. As President and CEO of Softrax Corporation, Robert O’Connor, points out, this is a serious claim. It is imperative that Nick does his research before making such a claim. The underlying issue in this case is if O’Brian Software is creating ‘cookie jar’ reserves by understating profits in periods of prosperity and then creating false reserves in times the company needs a boost. The smoothing of revenue recognition can mislead investors by providing them a false impression of the company’s financial standing while the...
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...Cookie Jar Reserves and Conservative Accounting ACCT 495 Professor Jastrzebski Fall 2013 Cookie Jar Reserves and Conservative Accounting SUMMARY O'Brian Software, a multimillion dollar software company, provides custom software systems, maintenance, support and training. Nick, a recent college graduate, just began working for the family run software company. After being hired to the firm's accounting department, Nick began to suspect unintentional and misleading revenue recognition . Nick believes his Aunt Amelia, founder and CEO, is an honest business woman and that her chosen CFO, Lee Marchetti, is also an honest man. Nick also knows that the financial statements have been reviewed and approved by the internal and external auditors and the firm's internal controls are effective. Despite these facts, Nick believes the firm has been smoothing earnings and creating inflated reserves. Most firms are usually charged with inflating earnings instead of under reporting, but both are equally illegal and unethical. After approaching Lee Marchetti with his concerns, Nick has informed his aunt, who has little accounting knowledge, of his suspected issues. Nick and Aunt Amelia are now faced with the decision as to whether or not the audit committee should be made aware of these concerns. ISSUES There are three issues at play regarding proper accounting and ethical business practices. The first issue is whether or not O'Brian...
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...was almost worth $13000. The company had the highest market value of approx. $460 billion in 1999. The revenue and operating income grew an avg. of 43% and 49% per year respectively. However, Microsoft has always been conservative in its accounting choices. This case explores Microsoft's overall financial reporting strategy by examining the company's treatment of two accounting issues--software capitalization and revenue recognition. For both issues, the company selects accounting methods that are relatively conservative. It also discusses the issue of managing analysts' expectations and Microsoft's tendency to provide analysts with very conservative expectations for the future. Ultimately, it provides a forum to discuss possible reasons for Microsoft's accounting and disclosure choices and also discusses the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation (in 1999) into Microsoft's accounting practices. Accounting Strategy for Software Development Cost During the period 1986-1999, Microsoft’s annual outlays for research and development ranged from 11% to 17% of revenue. The research and development costs are expensed as incurred. It follows SFAS No.86 which states that the Costs of Computer Software to be Sold, Leased, or Otherwise Marketed. The recognition of revenue on following these standards is given in the following table- Though in Aug 1985, FASB issued a statement in response to industry concerns of treating software development costs in a similar fashion to research...
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...Revenue recognition – the accounting term for determining the amount of revenues to be “booked” for purposes of calculating a firm’s earnings in a given period – is an important, complex and controversial issue. The importance of revenue recognition stems from the accountant’s approach to calculating earnings, which is to first calculate recognized (“booked”) revenues, and then deduct the accounting costs of earning those revenues (a process known as “matching costs with revenues”). Consequently, revenue recognition directly affects reported earnings and indirectly affects balance sheet numbers and several important financial ratios. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) includes some general revenue recognition principles as well as many specific rules for recognizing revenues in particular circumstances. Even then, there frequently is scope for interpretation and judgment by the company’s managers and auditors. For various reasons managers can be expected to have preferences for the amount of reported earnings, so when the rules provide some latitude they can be expected to exercise judgment in a fashion that reflects those preferences. In addition, when there are rules that provide explicit revenue recognition guidance, managers sometimes knowingly or unknowingly violate them. Not surprisingly, approximately 60 per cent of all accounting malfeasance involves revenue recognition issues. Revenue recognition is particularly important in the software industry,...
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...REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN ARTHUR LEVITT SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION THE "NUMBERS GAME" NYU CENTER FOR LAW AND BUSINESS, NEW YORK, N.Y. SEPTEMBER 28, 1998 Thank you very much. Dean Daly, Dean Sexton and to everyone gathered this evening, thank you for welcoming me tonight. I am honored to be here on such an auspicious evening for both NYU and Bill Allen. The creation of the Center for Law and Business recognizes an important truth: we cannot continue to view the worlds of business and law as parallel but separate universes. And NYU could not have selected a more qualified or thoughtful individual than Bill as its first director. His leadership of the Delaware Court of Chancery -- acknowledged as the nation's most influential arbiter of corporate law -- confirmed his reputation as a great thinker who effortlessly bridges the worlds of law and business. I've heard from friends on Wall Street that it's a far less stressful experience to hear Bill lecture in front of a classroom than from his former seat on the bench. Seven months ago, I expressed concerns about selective disclosure. Through conference calls or embargoed press releases, analysts and institutional investors often hear about material news before it is made public. In the interval, there is a great deal of unusual trading. The practice had been going on for a long time. And, while everyone was aware of it, and most were extremely uncomfortable with it, few spoke out. As the investor's advocate, the SEC did and we will...
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...Accounting: Focus on the Red Flags Written by Richard M. Rockwood May 2002 © Copyright 2002, FocusInvestor.com. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. It is a violation of federal copyright law to reproduce part or all of this publication without written permission from FocusInvestor.com. The goal of this short article is to show the investor examples of how companies can manipulate their reported earnings. This article also provides information on what warnings signs to look for. The article has taken information from a variety of sources in order to provide the reader with a quick overview of accounting red flags. Focused investors practicing portfolio concentration should be particularly aware of these issues. I have written the article for the individual investor who has an intermediate level of accounting knowledge. That being said I believe the beginning investor with only a moderate understanding of accounting will benefit from a close reading of this article if for no other reason that to understand what elements of accounting they should study more closely. While this article focuses on accounting issues all investors should investigate the management team of a company before investing since the management team has such a strong influence of any companies operations and how they report their results. To this end I would strongly urge all investors to first study the way management treats their shareholders. Do they provide...
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...opportunity, and rationalization are grounded in empirical evidence. In that regard, the efforts of the profession to emphasize management override are warranted. 2. Evidence on the usefulness of checklists as a fraud detection tool is mixed. While there is some research that supports the use of checklists as a decision tool, there is more evidence that suggests the use of checklists is dysfunctional in that auditors fail to expand their thinking beyond the checklist. 3. Research supports a need by auditors to align management incentives to the types of risks that should be evaluated as high i.e., high incentives to manage earnings upwards as a result of a need for capital versus incentives to manage earnings downward and establish cookie jar reserves . 4. There is evidence that suggests auditors do not make significant adjustments to audit plans as a result of higher fraud risk assessments. 5. Research supports further exploration into the use of...
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...Chapter 2 Financial Reporting and Analysis REVIEW Financial statements are the most visible products of a company’s financial reporting process. The financial reporting process is governed by accounting rules and standards, managerial incentives, and enforcement and monitoring mechanisms. It is important for a user of financial information to understand the financial reporting environment along with the accounting information presented in financial statements. In this chapter, the concepts underlying financial reporting are discussed with special emphasis on accounting rules. Next the purpose of financial reporting is discussed – its objectives and how these objectives determine both the quality of the accounting information and the principles that underlie the accounting rules. The relevance of accounting information for business analysis and valuation is also discussed and limitations of accounting information are identified. Last, accrual accounting is discussed including the strengths and limitation of accruals, and the implications of accruals for financial statement analysis. OUTLINE | | |Financial Reporting Environment | |Statutory Financial Reports ...
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...Scott, Financial Accounting Theory, 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual Chapter 2 Suggested Solutions to Questions and Problems 1. P.V. Ltd. Income Statement for Year 2 Accretion of discount (10% × 286.36) $28.64 P.V. Ltd. Balance Sheet As at Time 2 Financial Asset Cash $315.00 Shareholders’ Equity Opening balance Net income Capital Asset Present value 0.00 $315.00 $315.00 $286.36 28.64 Note that cash includes interest at 10% on opening cash balance of $150. 2. Suppose that P.V. Ltd. paid a dividend of $10 at the end of year 1 (any portion of year 1 net income would do). Then, its year 2 opening net assets are $276.36, and net income would be: P.V. Ltd. Income Statement For Year 2 Accretion of discount (10% × 276.36) $27.64 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc 11 Scott, Financial Accounting Theory, 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual P.V.’s balance sheet at time 2 would be: P.V. Ltd. Balance Sheet As at Time 2 Financial Asset Cash: (140 + 14 + 150) $304.00 Chapter 2 Shareholders’ Equity Opening balance: $276.36 (286.36 - 10.00 dividend) Capital Asset, at Present value 0.00 $304.00 $304.00 Net income 27.64 Thus, at time 2 the shareholders have: Cash from dividend Interest at 10% on cash dividend, for year 2 Value of firm per balance sheet $10.00 1.00 304.00 $315.00 This is the same value as that of the firm at time 2, assuming P.V. Ltd. paid no dividends (see Question 1). Consequently, the firm’s dividend policy does not matter to the shareholders...
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...Solutions for C hapter 7 A udit E vidence: A F r amewor k Review Questions: 7-1. Audit evidence is all the information used by auditors in arriving at the conclusions on which the audit opinion is based. The basic sources of evidence are knowledge of the business and industry, analytical procedures, tests of controls, and direct tests of account balances and transactions. The auditor must decide how much evidence is needed (extent), what kind of evidence is needed (nature), and when to gather the evidence (timing). The assertions form the framework for gathering sufficient, competent audit evidence as required by the professional standards. The assertions tie into generally accepted accounting principles in that those assertions are also embodied in GAAP. The five main assertions are defined as: Existence/occurrence. The assets, liabilities, and equity interests exist and all transactions reflected in the financial statements actually occurred. Completeness. All assets, liabilities, equity interests, and transactions that should have been recorded have been recorded, i.e., nothing is left out of the financial statements. Rights/obligations. The entity holds or controls the legal ownership to assets, and liabilities are legally owed by the entity. Valuation/allocation. Assets, liabilities, and equity interests are included in the financial statements at appropriate amounts and any resulting valuation or allocation adjustments are appropriately recorded. Presentation/disclosure...
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...ACG 6805 Accounting Theory Fall 2015 Professor: Greg Trompeter Office: 323 BA I Phone: 407.823.2150 Office hours: Tuesday before class; as announced in class; and by appointment. Required texts: Readings available as noted below. • Trueblood cases from Deloitte. Available at: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/About/university-relations/Deloitte-Foundation/0ac1264f0b0fb110VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm • FASB codification—password to be handed out in class. You may log in at http://aaahq.org/ascLogin.cfm Objectives This course examines: • How accounting principles are established and monitored by standard setters. • The strengths and weaknesses of various accounting methods and how applications of such methods affect decisions of users and preparers of financial statements. • Current issues facing standard setters and the profession. Grades will be determined as follows: 1. Class participation 45 possible points 2. Financial reporting timeline 5 possible points 3. Mini-cases (Trueblood, FASB, HBS or similar) 35 possible points 4. Problem sets and discussion question write-ups 30 possible points 5. Group presentation 10 possible points 6. Research paper 20 possible points 7. Final exam 5 possible points 150 possible points NOTE: I assume that you should plan to invest—at a minimum—three...
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...ACC 563 Quizzes and Exams – Perfect Score Guaranteed Follow the link below to purchase Solutions http://www.hwmojo.com/products/acc563-quizzes-and-exams We have all assignments, Cases and Exams for ACC 563 and many other classes. Email us support@hwmojo.com All Quizzes, Midterm Exam, Final Exam Solution Instant Download Chapter 1 Multiple Choice: 1. Which of the following bodies has the ultimate authority to issue accounting pronouncements in the United States? a. Securities and Exchange Commission b. Financial Accounting Standards Board c. International Accounting Standards Committee d. Internal Revenue Service Answer 2. What historical evidence of the business operations of the private estate of Apollonius was discovered early inthe20th century? a. The Iliad b. Plato's Republic c. The Zenon papyri d. Pacioli’s work, Summa de Arithmetica Geometria Proportioni et Proportionalita, Answer 3. Who has been given credit or developing the double-entry system of bookkeeping? a. Francis Wheat b. Fra Luca Pacioli c. A. C. Littleton d. William Paton Answer 4. Which of the following was not a criticism of the development of accounting standards by the Accounting Principles Board? a. The independence of the members of the APB. The individuals serving on the board had full-time responsibilities elsewhere that might influence their views of certain issues. b. The structure of the board. The largest eight public accounting firms...
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