A NOTE ON THE RITE AID ANALYSIS; AND A POX ON THE FASB
Last time we discussed Rite Aid and claimed the balance sheet was in shambles. Some fellow accounting professors objected to the analysis, so we need to respond to them. We’ll answer the criticism...
View ArticleDOES FACEBOOK STILL DESERVE AN “A” FOR ITS FINANCIAL REPORTING?
In our February essay “Facebook Gets an ‘A’ in Financial Reporting,” the two of us discussed what we liked about the firm’s S-1 filing. We felt that Facebook demonstrated financial reporting...
View ArticleGAAP IS CRAP: THE CASE OF JP MORGAN
Abraham Briloff complained that sometimes the accounting standard setters do a pathetic job by creating rules that enhance the ability of managers to manage earnings. At those times, he indicated that...
View ArticleGROUPON’S FEEBLE TAX ASSETS: WE TOLD YOU SO…AGAIN!
Well, it’s happened yet again. Groupon is making these two Grumpy Old Accountants look like prophets of financial reporting transparency. Last August we warned you of revenue recognition problems and...
View ArticleNEED PROFIT? BUY SOMETHING!
We first voiced our concern about an obscure accounting rule that allows companies to “create” profits when purchasing other businesses in the “Curious Case of Miller Energy’s 10-K and Its Huge Bargain...
View ArticleGROUPON: STILL ACCOUNTING CHALLENGED
Groupon has suffered through several financial restatements, revisions of its revenues, SEC criticism of its non-GAAP performance metrics, internal control weaknesses over financial reporting, and...
View ArticleWHAT IS ZYNGA’S “REAL” GROWTH RATE?
Zynga is back in the news with disappointing results. The Company’s second quarter results were announced on July 25 with a loss and slowing revenue growth. Several law firms responded in our great...
View ArticleCAN A NEW ACCOUNTING CHIEF SAVE GROUPON’S ACCOUNTING
Monday September 10 Groupon named a new Chief Accounting Officer, Brian Stevens, formerly a partner with KPMG. The question, of course, is whether this move is enough to save face with the investment...
View ArticleWHAT IS PENSION EXPENSE, REALLY? THE CASE OF WEYERHAEUSER
As you may recall, we previously discussed problems in government pension accounting (see “California Budget Woes and Chimerical Pension Beliefs: GASB Could Help if it Had the Will”). In this essay we...
View ArticleNORTEL CASE NEARS ITS END
The case against three former executives at Nortel is coming to an end. Their actions have been characterized as a “fraud on the public” by the Canadian prosecutors during their closing statements....
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