3.3 Cookie jar
“Cookie jar” reserve – sometimes labeled rainy day reserve or contingency reserves,
in periods of strong financial performance, cookie jar reserve enable to reduce
earnings by overstating reserves, overstating expenses, and using one-time
write-offs. In periods of weak financial performance, cookie jar reserves can be
used to increase earnings by reversing accruals and reserves to reduce current period
expenses (Kokoszka, 2003).
The most famous example of use of cookie jar reserves is WorldCom Inc. In August
2002, an internal review revealed that the company had $2.5 billion reserves related to
litigation, uncollectible and taxes. The company used most of them in a series of
so-called reserve reversals in order to have higher earnings.
3.4 Round-tripping, back-to-back and swaps
The practice of selling an unused asset to another company while at the same time
agreeing to buy back the same or similar assets at about the same price is known as
round-tripping. Back-to-Back is the same process but with a short time lag – the two
transactions are not scheduled to occur at precisely the same time. Swaps occur when
two companies sell each other virtually identical assets to recognize revenue.