Financial restatements in 2008 dipped 49 percent from the prior year, the lowest level in the past five years, according to a report compiled by proxy researcher Glass Lewis.
Glass Lewis’ study, Trend Report: Restatement Dust Settles, examined 172 listed companies with market values of at least $250 million. Those companies filed a total of 185 restatements versus 361 in 2007.
The report attributed the 2008 decline to a number of recently completed compliance overhauls at many of the larger companies, which resulted in fewer errors in the financial reporting process.
Other findings included:
• Services and technology companies filed the most restatements;
• Smaller companies restated more often than larger companies;
• The most commonly corrected errors were expense recognition, misclassifications and taxes; and,
• Among the Big Four Firms, Deloitte had the highest rate of restatements with 10 percent.
