More on Overstock.com's Accounting Shenanigans

Sam Antar begins the first installment of a detailed, multipart analysis in his blog today:

Once again, Overstock has proved to be the story that keeps on giving. Every time I try to find the answer to one simple question, I am confronted by even more violations and inconsistencies. The latest evidence, analyzed in this blog post, indicates that the company has knowingly violated its own revenue recognition policies since at least 1999.

This may sound technical, but it isn't. These are the kinds of things that make a difference between a company reporting "real big" sales and "real lousy" sales.

That is why accounting issues are at the heart of the SEC's investigation of Overstock and CEO Patrick Byrne. So this is a rare opportunity to see a company's fraudulent practices being exposed, in real time, while an investigation is underway.

© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.