2011《财富》最愚蠢商业事件大盘点（上）

Groupon上市申报文件营收注水

    团购网站Groupon的财务增长令人瞠目结舌，但公司的IPO文件使公众得以首次一窥其中究竟：Groupon在8月份提交的文件中称其2011年上半年的营收为15亿美元，要知道，三年前这个数字才仅仅只有94,000美元。

    然而事后才发现这竟然是一场闹剧——Groupon对于“营收”的定义过于宽松。如果Groupon出售10美元的优惠券，一般需要将其中的5美元支付给商家——但Groupon之前却一直将这10美元全部计入公司自己的营收。美国证监会（SEC）直接驳回了Groupon的申请，并告诫Groupon这种做法违规。

    9月份，Groupon提交了“更正错误”后的修订文件。所谓的错误也就是说，将出售优惠券的收入中应该返还给商家的现金全部计入了自己的营收。

    修订后的文件使Groupon在2011年上半年的销售额遭遇腰斩，仅有6.88亿美元。而Groupon同期的净亏损为2.55亿美元。——朱利安•波比顿

Groupon's $835 million accounting oopsie

    Groupon's IPO paperwork offered the first public glimpse into the financials of a company eye-popping growth: In an August filing, Groupon reported its revenue for the first six months of 2011 at $1.5 billion, up from a grand total of $94,000 just three years earlier.

    Turns out Groupon was being extremely generous in its definition of "revenue." If Groupon sells a coupon for $10, it would typically pass $5 of that on to the merchant -- but Groupon had previously been reporting all $10 as its own revenue. The SEC smacked Groupon and called that a no-no.

    In September, Groupon submitted a revised filing to "correct for an error" -- namely, including in its revenue the cash it has to hand back to merchants for their share of the coupons Groupon sells.

    The restatement effectively whacked Groupon's sales in half, knocking them down to $688 million for the first half of 2011. Groupon's net loss for the period: $255 million. -- Julianne Pepitone