Six accounting surprises when buying a business

Many companies finance their M&A activity by issuing shares, raising money to purchase a business, or using shares as currency for the acquisition. Often, especially in the case of private companies, new shareholder agreements may also be entered into as part of the acquisition. What surprises many business owners is that these shares may be accounted for as liabilities. While many automatically assume these shares are equity in the company, they should sometimes be recorded as debt for accounting purposes.

Determining the debt-versus-equity question is typically complicated. Accountants consider several factors, including related shareholder agreements.

Earn-out arrangements can be riddled with accounting issues. These provisions are designed to create a win-win between buyer and seller on the value of the company. However, earn-outs are regularly tied to revenue targets, and revenue is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. It comes down to how revenue should be recognised.

In accounting terms, revenue recognition is a complicated area that involves the use of judgement. The seller and buyer may have different views on how to recognise revenue post acquisition. Disputes of this nature sometimes lead to litigation. To help manage the expectations of all parties, and avoid surprises at year-end, make sure you understand the accounting treatment for earn-outs beforehand.

Assets of the target company may receive a fair value increase on their acquisition. When your balance sheet reflects this increase after you purchase the company, it could have wide-ranging consequences, including lower than anticipated profit or loss post acquisition.

As an example, consider inventory. When the fair value increases, it could affect the gross margins of your company and, in turn, key related milestones, such as earn-outs and KPIs set by the company.

Two other examples: capital equipment and intangible assets included on the target’s balance sheet. The fair value bump in these cases can create a higher expense in the post-acquisition results. These expenses are amortised, generating an expense that is recognised in profit or loss going forward.

The idea that a balance sheet does not record every single asset of a business may seem odd at first glance. In theory, a balance sheet should tell the financial story of the company in numbers — and tell it in full.

Yet the rules change when your company makes an acquisition. Companies do not always recognise intangible assets on their balance sheet when they are developed internally. However, as these assets were not internally developed by the buyer, you need to now record these assets on the balance sheet.

In many cases, intangible assets add significant value to your balance sheet. Take intellectual property, for example. This asset is intangible, yet it is more valuable than the company’s physical assets in many technology businesses. Another example is brand value, which does not appear on the seller’s balance sheet but needs to be accounted for on your balance sheet.

Anyone buying a company may sign numerous agreements at the same time. While the acquisition triggered all of them, some may fall outside the acquisition for accounting purposes. You might find this with employment contracts or those signed for managerial services, which many buyers and sellers pursue during an acquisition.

Accounting requires you to split these and similar agreements from the purchase by carefully analysing their reasons, their timing, and who initiated them. Some could lead to expenses being recognised post acquisition — which is hardly intuitive, since the agreements were all signed because of the acquisition.

The due diligence conducted prior to purchase sometimes uncovers liabilities that are subject to future circumstances. However, because they may require payment, they become the responsibility of the buyer post purchase. These contingent liabilities need particular attention.

As a result, the pre-purchase work on contingent liabilities happens in two steps: investigative and analytical.

• First, due diligence professionals, both accountants and lawyers, investigate all liabilities.
• The second step falls into the realm of complex accounting, where specialists assess whether the liability must be recognised.