Alby_da_Wolf on 15 March 2009
| Viper1 said: Impulsivity, the $1 billion charge off is paid. That money is no longer occurring on their balance sheets. That's what a one time charge means. It affects the balance sheet for that one quarter, that's it. |
The worst thing about MS balance tranparency is that such expenses, together with part of R&D costs, product support, legal costs and settlements, fines, and, well, read their reports (1) if you want to know it more precisely, are accounted for in the balance sheet item "Corporate level activity", not in the divisions' balances.
(1) Not in all MS reports you find these infos well delimited and clear, this http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY08/earn_rel_q4_08.mspx is one where you can find them quite clear and well separed from other arguments.
Essay Pro