Dell Execs Cooked Books

Dell today revealed that it had finished an inside investigation into the company's accounting practices for the past four years and will have to drop its reported revenue over the period. The self-examination, which began roughly a year ago at the Texas-based PC maker, discovered evidence that some executives at the company had "reviewed" results with the goal of adjusting the final results to line up with company targets. In most cases this involved declaring income in advance; but in one case sales figures had been distorted to reach the figure, Dell said. The revised numbers could cost the company anywhere between $50m to $150m depending on the final correction.

Actions are or have already been taken against those responsible, the system builder added. Some employees have been fired while others have been moved to different positions, received warnings, or received extra instruction and supervision. Current chief finance officer Don Carly was also adamant that the executives which were aware of the ongoing deceptive practices have already left and that the present-day management intends to correct past mistakes.

"The ones that knew about [the reviews] are the ones that are gone," he said.

The impact may be relatively small in terms of immediate financial impact for Dell but may also be accompanied by a follow-up investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which is tasked with government investigations and may file charges if it believes the deliberate misreporting was criminal. Dell has seen its US marketshare erode in favor of Apple, HP, and other rivals. Changes in the past year have also seen Michael Dell return to the chief executive position in the company and taking on Motorola's Ron Garriques, which has triggered a major redesign of Dell's computer lines.