MoviesPlus, Inc. is in its third year of business. The company offers DVD rental

Question

MoviesPlus, Inc. is in its third year of business. The company offers DVD rental to online customers for a fixed monthly fee. For $20 per month, a customer receives three DVDs each month, one at a time as the previous one is returned. No matter how many DVDs a customer uses (up to three), the fee is fixed at $20 per month. Customers sign a contract for a year, so MoviesPlus recognizes sales revenue of $240 each time a customer signs up for the service. The owner of MoviesPlus, Bob Colbert, has heard about GAAP, but he does not see any reason to follow these accounting principles. Although MoviesPlus is not publicly traded, Bob does put the company’s financial statements on the company’s Web page for customers to see. Explain how MoviesPlus would account for its revenue if it did follow GAAP. Explain to Bob Colbert why he should use GAAP, and describe why his financial statements may now be misleading. Do you see this as an ethical issue? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

GAAP are imposed on companies so that investors have a minimum level of consistency in the financial statements they use when analyzing companies for investment purposes. GAAP cover such things as revenue recognition, balance sheet item classification and outstanding share measurements. Companies are expected to follow GAAP rules when reporting their financial data via financial statements. If a financial statement is not prepared using GAAP principles, be very wary!

GAAP is only a set of standards. There is plenty of room within GAAP for unscrupulous accountants to distort figures. So, even when a company uses GAAP, you still need to scrutinize its financial statements.

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