SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Ian@SI who wrote (4450)4/12/1999 3:22:00 PM
From: Boca_PETE  Read Replies (1) of 15132
 
Ian: re:< Reporting Employee Stock Options as Compensation Expense >

Starting with year 1996, The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has required PRO FORMA disclosure of what Net Income, Basic Earnings Per Share and Diluted Earnings per Share would have been had companies elected to report "option compensation expense" under the new FASB Standard No 123. Companies must also report assumptions used (ie. Expected life, Interest Rate, Volatility, and Dividend Yield) and describe the option pricing model used (ie. Black-Sholes) to calculate such assumed compensation expense. If the "General populace" is completely unaware of the impact of options on operating earnings for the companies that they hold, it's because they choose not to read the footnotes to the financial statements.

Moreover, when employees buy their employer's shares at the agreed option grant price (which normally equals market value at option grant date), any sale proceeds employees get from reselling such shares in the secondary market (their profit) is paid to them by other shareholders, not the company. For the company to record any portion of such profit as "compensation expense" seems to me to be an absurd notion since no assets leave the company to fund such employee profits. The fact that earnings per share are diluted by the additional shares outstanding as a result of employee exercised options during a period (ie. employee purchases of shares from the company) seems to me to be the appropriate penalty to company earnings per share. SFAS 125 requires companies that elect to record option compensation expense to deduct such compensation amount from earnings and add that same amount back to "Paid-in-Capital" because NO ASSETS HAVE LEFT THE COMPANY TO PAY EMPLOYEES THAT COMPENSATION AMOUNT - Other shareholders pay that amount to the employee, not the company.

It took an act of congress to stop the FASB from always requiring such absurd accounting described in SFAS 125. FASB still doesn't get it to this day !

FWIW

P

Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext