AUDITING II
HOMEWORK
“Internet Problem 14-1: Revenue Recognition Fraud”
Chapter 14
Wahyunda Risa Putri 1210534008
Shabrina Alin Firstiana 1210534010
Atikah Galuh Wilandra1210534013
Lecturer : Suhernita, SE, ForeAcc, Akt.
International Class
Faculty of Economics
Andalas University
2014
INTERNET PROBLEM 14-1: REVENUE RECOGNITION FRAUD The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found that Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation, a nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers, fraudulently accounted for three types of revenues it received from members. The SEC also charged the audit firm and six partners for their roles in the accounting violations. Visit the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov) and search the link to “Litigation
…show more content…
Instead, accounting standards require that Bally recognize initiation fee revenue over the entire membership life. This means that for members who maintained their memberships beyond the financing period, or initial period of membership, Bally was required to defer initiation fee revenue and recognize it over the estimated membership life, not over the term of the initial period of membership. However, Bally prematurely recognized its members’ initiation fee revenue over a period that was not only shorter than the estimated membership life, but in most instances even shorter than the initial period of membership.
Personal Training Services: In addition to selling health club memberships, Bally also sold personal training services (i.e., exercise sessions with personal trainers). Some customers prepaid for sessions with personal trainers. Accounting standards require that revenue from prepaid personal training services be recognized only when earned, which is when the personal training services were actually provided. Bally, however, recognized revenue related to personal training services before those services were actually provided.
a. Credit will only be given if you clearly show your work, and clearly indicate the final answer.
In this case, there are several conspirators who is involved in the fraud receiving punishment from either SEC or federal government. Robert Levin, the AMRE executive and major stockholder, and Dennie D.Brown, the company’s chief accounting officer, were subject to the punishment in the form of a huge amount of fine by the SEC and the federal government. This punishment came from reasons. After AMRE going public, the company have the obligation to publish its financial reports but its performance did not meet expectation. The investigation by SEC shows that Robert took the first step of this scam, fearing the sharp drop of AMRE’s stock price because of the poor performance of company. He abetted Brown, to practice three main schemes to present a false appearance of profitable and pleasant financial reports. Firstly, they instructed Walter W.Richardson, the company’s vice president of data processing, to enter fictitious unset leads in the lead bank and they originally deferred the advertising cost mutiplying “cost per lead” and “unset leads” amount, so that they deferred a portion of its advertising costs in an asset account. The capitalizing of advertising expenses allowed them to inflate the net income for the first quarter of fiscal 1988. Secondly, at the end of the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 1988, they added fictitious inventory to AMRE’s ending inventory records, and prepared bogus inventory count sheets for the auditors. Thirdly, they overstated the percentage
One of the main defenses E&Y took during the early stages of the HealthSouth suit was the fact that the SEC had no well-defined rules with regards to audit-related practices. Another defense was the mere fact that E&Y never faced a criminal indictment for the HealthSouth fraud. This was mainly due to the statute of limitations placed on securities fraud. It sets it at the earlier of (a) 2 years after the discovery of the facts constituting the violation or (2) 5 years after such violation. Thus, the DOJ was unable to file criminal charges against the firm because the partner on the audit (G. Marcus Neas) was “unaware” of the fraud in 1993.
An Analysis of the U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004 and the Role of Bally Total Fitness
Organizational misconduct is the chief cause behind corporate accounting scandals. The trusted executives of the corporation participation in actions during a scandal are corrupt and illegal. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is typically the government agency that investigates such scandals. One of the most notorious corporate accounting scandals in the United States is the HealthSouth Corporation scandal of 2003. HealthSouth Corporation is one of the United States largest health care providers with locations nationwide. A deeper inspection of the HealthSouth scandal is needed to understand how it transpired by assessing how it was executed, the accounting issues and root of the issue, how it was exposed, the results to the company and its officers, and warranted ramifications as an outcome of the scandal.
Review of ABC Company and the directions it is targeting. The strategy of the company is to lift the expected sales in an aggressive fashion, with the expected end target being to triple the current levels. The plan is to push sales into the targeted range of $3 million within 3 years versus the current amount which sits at $1.2 million. We will identify the perceived risk factors that may impact this aggressive strategy and its successful execution. The following will be those risk factors:
This course focuses on ways in which financial statements reflect business operations and emphasizes use of financial statements in the decision-making process. The course encompasses all business forms and various sectors such as merchandising, manufacturing and service. Students make extensive use of spreadsheet applications to analyze accounting records and financial statements. Prerequisites: COMP100 and MATH114 / 4-4
Between the years 2000 and 2002 there were over a dozen corporate scandals involving unethical corporate governance practices. The allegations ranged from faulty revenue reporting and falsifying financial records, to the shredding and destruction of financial documents (Patsuris, 2002). Most notably, are the cases involving Enron and Arthur Andersen. The allegations of the Enron scandal went public in October 2001. They included, hiding debt and boosting profits to the tune of more than one billion dollars. They were also accused of bribing foreign governments to win contacts and manipulating both the California and Texas power markets (Patsuris, 2002). Following these allegations, Arthur Andersen was investigated for, allegedly,
The concept of network neutrality (more commonly referred to as net neutrality) has been a fixture of debates over United States telecommunications policy throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century. Based upon the principle that internet access should not be altered or restricted by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) one chooses to use, it has come to represent the hopes of those who believe that the internet still has the potential to radically transform the way in which we interact with both people and information, in the face of the commercial interests of ISPs, who argue that in order to sustain a competitive marketplace for internet provision, they must be allowed to differentiate their services. Whilst this debate has
How many people have a smartphone? How many people use any source of social media? (snapchat, instagram, facebook...ect) Would you still use these medias if you had to pay for them? How much would you be willing to spend on these? Social media is something more than 75% of americans use everyday.
The emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web brought upon a medium of communication with a range of opportunities for the world. However, this medium is, in due course, subject to the control of a few major companies. The enigma of information flow is the central concern of net neutrality. Consumers, competition and network owners would benefit directly from the regulation of network neutrality because it would provide a positive impact to those parties as well as provide equality.
The commencement of the internet was more than just a technological advancement, like most new and innovative ideas it came with its problems. Net neutrality, is just one of the many strings attached to the internet, and in return we have structured laws, which have caused arguments concerning what should and should not be monitored. For over 50 years, this has been a recurring theme with no end in sight. In recent months, people have thought there could possibly be an end, but to no avail as it seems to be going in the same exact pattern as the past. What is the reason to bring up Net Neutrality again today from previous years? Think about it, the internet is the biggest source of information in the world today. It is the most used form of entertainment, research, socialization.
Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. (Source: Company Form 10-K)
1) In late 2000, Lucent announced that revenues would be adjusted downwards by $679m as a
with a new partner, Harry Fowl. Harry has had some existing business and you are