Overstock.com ridiculously claimed that the collection of the entire amount of its under-billings (every single penny) "was not assured" and instead falsely claimed that a "gain contingency" existed rather than make a reasonable estimate of uncollectable amounts as required under SFAS No. 5. Therefore, Overstock.com improperly recognized income from under-billed fulfillment partners as amounts due to the company were collected on a non-GAAP cash basis, rather when they were earned under accrual accounting or GAAP. (Anatar, 2010) Overstock.com violated it published mission and vision statements, which are taken directly from the Company's website -- Overstock.com. "Overstock.com's Mission: To save people money. Overstock.com's Vision: Overstock.com provides online shoppers with the best value and a superior customer experience. We are honest, helpful, efficient, accountable, and trustworthy, and are committed to profitability and service." (FAQ's, 2010) the Company could have mitigated the impact of the situation by issuing a public apology and admitting their mistakes, instead the CEO of the Company Patrick Byrne, CEO showed his total disregard for the rules in place...
"Byrne opens the letter by quoting Nietzsche: "All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth." (Newquist, 2009)
GAAP vs. IFRS As globalization begins to hit full stride, new rules and customs must be addressed with older and more established practices. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) represents a global perspective on the accounting rules for global organization. The United States has followed their Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) to dictate the regulations dealing with domestic companies. The purpose of this essay is to examine both of these
GAAP Newsletter Dear Managers: In the 21st century, particularly after a combination of the Global Recession and issues surrounding companies like Enron and Arthur Anderson, there has been a new paradigm about accounting in the media, for stakeholders, governments, and professionals alike. There are a number of ways to accomplish this new paradigm, which revolves around trust in reporting numbers, the use of numbers in particular financial documents, and the manner in
GAAP There are two main types of accounting, cash accounting and accrual accounting. The former is used mainly in private businesses, and small ones at that. The latter is the basis for generally accepted accounting principles and is therefore much more common in business, especially larger businesses. This paper will explain some of the differences between these two forms. The differences between cash accounting and accrual accounting stem from philosophical differences. Cash
Introduction There are a number of different areas of difference between US GAAP and IFRS. Nguyen (2017) points out that one of those areas of difference is with respect to the treatment of intangible assets. Intangible assets show on the balance sheet, but what types of intangible assets and how they are valued differ between these two different accounting systems. This report will highlight these differences, and their implications. US GAAP Treatment There
Introduction In 2016, the chief accountant of the SEC, James Schnurr, announced that he would not recommend that the SEC should mandate, or even offer the choice, for US companies to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This announcement was believed to be the "death knell" for the convergence between GAAP and IFRS, a project that had already stretched more than a decade with only moderate success (Katz, 2015). The Merits of
The authors also point out that in the hierarchy of the GASB statements, interpretations, technical bulletins and the role of consensus approvals of GASB also need to be seen as the development of future Implementation Guide recommendations for future years as well. In summary, the authors provide an excellent overview of how the hierarchy of GASB statements relate to the Implementation Guides produced. Impact of the article: This specific article
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