According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is "finally getting back to business" after it was forced to restate four years worth of financials because of aggressive accounting that was done, in some cases at the request of "senior executives," to meet financial targets.
Shares are up since the restatement. With the exception of the always-vigilant Herb Greenberg, Dell's restatement has gotten very little coverage in the financial press. The dollar amount of the restatement can be quantified easily -- $150 million. That's less than 2.5% of the company's current market cap. So this is hardly Enron.
But the larger point -- and one that seems to be getting little attention -- is what this matter says about the corporate culture at Dell, and the company's internal controls. This fraud -- "adjustments to various reserve and accrued liability accounts ... so that quarterly performance objectives could be met" is fraud -- went on for four years.
Hopefully Dell's board and management are taking the steps to improve the company's corporate culture to one of integrity. That's the real issue here, and it's a vital part of "getting back to business."
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