> It's true. Groupon's accounting gimmickry is extensive, and began pre-IPO (recognizing full purchase price of coupon when they are only acting as an "agent" (middleman) not as a "principal" (i.e., making the food, owning the spas for the massages etc.), which as a CFO I can tell you is Accounting 101.
How this is supposed to be an accounting issue and not fraud is beyond me.
Many (if not all) public companies have two sets of books. One they use to show investors and shareholders, and another used to make managerial accounting decisions.
Sure their investor/shareholder books may seem deceptive, but it's legal and everything is there for us to see and analyze. I have done this type of analysis in MBA level accounting case studies. It's really fun when you see the whole class conclude one thing, but then later find out everyone's wrong due to misinterpreting a few assumptions.
How this is supposed to be an accounting issue and not fraud is beyond me.