Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Overstock.com Fires Auditor, In Auditing Dispute

Salt Lake City-based e-commerce site Overstock.com is making waves again, saying last night that it has fired its auditor, Grant Thornton, and has elected to file an unreviewed, quarterly 10-Q earnings statement. In a long letter released to shareholders last night, Overstock Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne detailed a lengthly list of disagreements with Grant Thornton over income recognition. Overstock.com had recently selected Grant Thornton as its auditor in Q1, replacing PwC. The dismissal comes after Grant Thornton disagreed with the firm's accounting methods, which triggered SEC notification in October and early November over $785,000. Overstock.com said it has now elected to dismiss Grant Thornton, file an unreviewed Q3 form 10-Q due to a lack of an auditor, and is working with the SEC, and is now looking to engage another auditing firm.