March discovered to have 35 days!!!
Another "only CA" story:
NYT, April 29, 2001
A Software Company Runs Out of Tricks
By ALEX BERENSON
".....But much of the growth that has enriched Mr. Wang was a mirage, according to more than a dozen former employees and independent industry analysts.
Computer Associates, they say, has used accounting tricks to systematically overstate its revenue and profits for years. The practices were so widespread that employees joked that C.A. stood for "Creative Accounting," and that March, June, September and December, when fiscal quarters end, had 35 days, giving the company extra time to close sales and book revenue.
While reporting rising revenue and profits to Wall Street, Computer Associates has infuriated clients with high prices and poor technical support. Its heavily marketed efforts to diversify out of the mainframe business have been a painful failure, former employees and customers say.
Over the years, it has gained a reputation as a callous employer that dismisses workers without warning while top executives take home eight- and sometimes nine-figure pay packages. And it has so angered I.B.M., which makes most of the mainframes that its software supports, that I.B.M. is accusing Computer Associates of charging too much for its products. I.B.M. is now developing its own rival software.
Now, Computer Associates' past may have caught up with it..."
nytimes.com
- Fred |
