Financial Reporting

The GAO releases a report, Trends, Market Impacts, Regulatory Responses, and Remaining Challenges ( www.gao.gov/new.items/d03138.pdf ), which found the number of times public companies restated their financial results due to accounting irregularities rose 145% from January of 1997 through June of 2002. The agency analyzed 919 restatements made by 845 public companies. About 10% of publicly traded companies made at least one such adjustment during this period, according to the study. Improper recognition of revenue was the most frequently cited reason for the restatements.