Publications

June 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

MicroStrategy: Accounting for Cryptocurrency

By: Jonas Heese and Annelena Lobb

On February 15, 2021, Alina Moss, an analyst who covered the technology company MicroStrategy, pondered a rise in MicroStrategy’s share price. Moss had dialed into the company earnings call. When it ended, Moss had more questions than answers. MicroStrategy had... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Share Price; Electronic Commerce; Intangible Assets; Assets; Accounting; Financial Statements; Financial Management; Financial Reporting; Analytics and Data Science; E-commerce

August 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

First Investments, Inc.: Analysis of Financial Statements

By: David F. Hawkins

A summer intern is asked to perform a financial value analysis of a company's financial report for the period 1987-1994. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Financial Statements

24 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items

Keywords: by Edward J. Riedl & Suraj Srinivasan

September 2013
Case

The Case of the Unidentified Industries—2013

By: Mihir A. Desai, William E. Fruhan Jr. and Elizabeth A. Meyer

Helps students to understand how the characteristics of a business are reflected in its financial statements. This case consists of an exercise in which students are given balance sheet data in percentage form and other selected financial data for companies in 14... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Accounting Statements; Ratio Analysis; Financial Statements; Finance

November 2012
Exercise

Coca-Cola: Residual Income Valuation Exercise

By: Suraj Srinivasan

The exercise illustrates the use of the residual income (also known as the abnormal earnings) valuation approach. Students are asked to provide a valuation of Coca-Cola Company using the residual income valuation methodology and understand how it maps into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Analysis; Valuation; Residual Income Valuation; Accounting; Financial Accounting; Financial Analysis; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Statements; Discounted Cash Flows

2020
Working Paper

A Preliminary Framework for Product Impact-Weighted Accounts

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

While there has been significant progress in the measurement of an organization’s environmental and social impacts from its operations, metrics to evaluate the impact of products once they come to market lag far behind. In this paper, we provide a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Social Impact; Product Life Cycle; Environment; Sustainability; Measurement; Metrics; Impact Investing; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Reporting; Product; Environmental Sustainability; Measurement and Metrics; Framework; Financial Statements

SSRN

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1996
Book

Business Analysis and Valuation Using Financial Statements

By: Victor L Bernard, Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Statements; Valuation

Find at Harvard

September 2013
Teaching Note

The Case of the Unidentified Industries—2013

By: Mihir A. Desai, William E. Fruhan, Jr. and Elizabeth A. Meyer

Helps students to understand how the characteristics of a business are reflected in its financial statements. This case consists of an exercise in which students are given balance sheet data in percentage form and other selected financial data for companies in 14... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Accounting Statements; Ratio Analysis; Financial Statements; Finance

November 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Background Note

Accounting for Marketable Securities and the "Recycling" of Income

Gives an overview of accounting for equity investments less than 20%. Uses this accounting to introduce the issue of amounts included in the statement of comprehensive income during a different time period from its inclusion in net income (sometimes called "recycled... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Investment; Equity

March 1999
Article

Off Comes On: New Consolidated Financial Statements Proposed

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Financial Statements

Find at Harvard

2018
Other Teaching and Training Material

Financial Accounting Reading: Shareholders' Equity

By: Suraj Srinivasan

Core Curriculum Readings in Financial Accounting cover the fundamental concepts in financial accounting. Many readings include videos and Interactive Illustrations to help students master complex concepts.
This is a standalone reading designed to introduce... View Details

Keywords: Shareholders' Equity; Accounting; Financial Statements

August 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan, Francois Brochet and Christine Johnson

In May 2018, Berkshire Hathaway announced an unprecedented loss of more than $1 billion for the first quarter of 2018. Warren Buffett blamed this loss on the new accounting rules for equity securities which he criticized. In the case ‘Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire... View Details

Keywords: Equity Securities; FASB; Fair Value Accounting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Services Industry

14 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

New Agenda for Corporate Accountability Reporting

How do you measure corporate accountability? And can you do it credibly? Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, for-profit corporations are facing greater demand to disclose more than revenues and expenses on annual financial reports. In response, some are pointing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Energy; Utilities

March 2013
Case

NovaStar Financial: A Short Seller's Battle

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser

The NovaStar case describes the challenges faced by short seller Marc Cohodes of hedge fund Rocker Partners as he tried to expose what he thought was widespread fraud in mortgage lender NovaStar Financial. The case is set in the time period from 2001 to 2007 and tracks... View Details

November 1999 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

Accounting for Foreign Operations

By: David F. Hawkins

Students are required to compute and explain the quality annual earnings per share figures and major differences between managing domestic and global operations. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Financial Statements; International Accounting; Globalized Firms and Management

October 2007
Article

The Influence of Financial Statement Recognition and Analyst Coverage on the Market's Valuation of R&D Capital

By: Michael D. Kimbrough

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 141 (SFAS No. 141)'s requirement that an acquirer in a business combination estimate the fair value of the target's separately identifiable assets and liabilities (including research and development capital) provides a rare... View Details

Keywords: Information; Value Creation; Fair Value Accounting; Research and Development; Financial Statements; Capital

February 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Exercise

Accounting for Pensions at General Motors Corporation (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

A potential investor in General Motor's stock reviews the retiree benefit note data included in the company's 2001 financial statements as part of the investment analysis of the company. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry