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ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION American Accounting Association Vol. 28, No. 2 DOI: 10.2308/iace-50182 2013 pp. 353–374
Cash Flows at Amazon.com
Richard A. Price III
ABSTRACT: This instructional case illustrates how Amazon.com’s strategy has evolved over time and how these characteristics are reflected in the financial statements. A particular emphasis is placed on the cash flow statement. Students evaluate the cash flow statement and examine its articulation with the other financial statements. Students create a direct method cash flow statement in the year of Amazon.com’s initial public offering using the information available in the financial statements.
Keywords: cash flow; statement of cash flows; life cycle; direct method; indirect method.
CASE
I n the summer of 1994, Jeff Bezos sacrificed a promising career in investment banking and his
personal savings to start what would become ‘‘Earth’s Biggest Bookstore,’’ Amazon.com. He
left New York and went to Seattle, and like so many successful (and unsuccessful) businesses,
started out in a garage.
The compelling force that drove Bezos was the 2,300 percent annual growth in web usage. He
could see that the Internet, which was in its infancy in 1994, would soon become ubiquitous.
Features of the book industry made it ideal to focus on selling books, at least initially. The book
industry was fragmented, both in terms of the large number of booksellers and publishers. In
addition, there were millions of titles and potential customers. The typical bookstore could house a
small fraction of all published books, so Amazon.com could market itself as the earth’s largest
bookstore.
When Bezos founded Amazon.com, he focused on hiring talented and unconventional
managers and employees. Amazon.com had rigorous requirements for new employees and an
obsession for customer service. Amazon.com told temp agencies ‘‘send us your freaks’’ (Spector
2002, 113). The hiring of talented employees was coupled with an austere culture, exemplified by
the use of desks made of doors and 234s. These desks were initially used because they were inexpensive and later because they matched the culture. The result was an atmosphere that could
weather the growing pains and ultimately become the most recognizable Internet retailer in the
world.
Richard A. Price III is an Assistant Professor at Utah State University.
I gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments from Karen Nelson, Bill Pasewark (editor), Mary Lea McAnally (guest editor), and two anonymous reviewers.
Published Online: April 2012
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Amazon.com’s Evolving Strategy
The business model that Jeff Bezos embraced was to grow as quickly as possible. Given the
rapid growth of the Internet, it was more important to gain market share and brand recognition than
to operate efficiently. The strategy was successful as measured by the dramatic growth in revenue
from under $150 million in 1997, the year of the initial public offering (IPO), to over $34 billion in
2010 (see Exhibit 1).
Although the company began selling only books, it is clear that Bezos planned on being much
more than a bookseller. The 1997 annual 10-K report states that the company ‘‘intends over time to
expand its catalog into other information-based products, such as music’’ (Amazon.com 1997). By
the next year, Amazon.com launched online music and video sales, and quickly became the number
one online music and video seller. The 1998 annual 10-K report reveals the evolution of the
business strategy to sell just about anything: ‘‘The Company’s objective is to become the best place
to buy, find, and discover any product or service available online’’ (Amazon.com 1998, 3). Besides
expanding the scope of its strategy in terms of the products sold, Amazon.com also expanded
geographically. In 1998, Amazon.com acquired Internet companies in the United Kingdom and
Germany, and launched www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de, respectively. These websites
quickly became number one in their markets. Over time, investments and acquisitions resulted in
the launch of websites in France (http://www.amazon.fr in 2000), Japan (http://www.amazon.co.jp
in 2000), Canada (http://www.amazon.ca in 2002), China (http://www.amazon.cn in 2004), and
Italy (http://www.amazon.it in 2010). In addition, an increasingly significant portion of revenue is
derived from services provided to other businesses.
EXHIBIT 1
Selected Financial Information from 1995–2010
Year Revenue COGS Income CFO CFI CFF
1995 $511 $409 ($303) ($232) ($52) $1,228 1996 15,746 12,287 (5,777) (1,735) (1,214) 8,201 1997 147,758 118,945 (27,590) 3,522 (22,477) 122,517 1998 609,996 476,155 (124,546 ) 31,035 (261,777) 254,462 1999 1,639,839 1,349,194 (719,968) (90,875) (951,959) 1,104,071 2000 2,761,983 2,106,206 (1,411,273) (130,442) 163,978 693,147 2001 3,122,433 2,323,875 (567,277) (119,782) (253,294) 106,881 2002 3,932,936 2,940,318 (149,132) 174,291 (121,684) 106,894 2003 5,263,699 4,006,531 35,282 392,022 236,651 (331,986) 2004 6,921,124 5,319,000 588,451 566,560 (317,631) (97,292) 2005 8,490,000 6,451,000 359,000 733,000 (778,000) (193,000) 2006 10,711,000 8,255,000 190,000 702,000 (333,000) (400,000) 2007 14,835,000 11,482,000 476,000 1,405,000 42,000 50,000 2008 19,166,000 14,896,000 645,000 1,697,000 (1,199,000) (198,000) 2009 24,509,000 18,978,000 902,000 3,293,000 (2,337,000) (280,000) 2010 34,204,000 26,561,000 1,152,000 3,495,000 (3,360,000) 181,000
Dollar amounts in thousands. The financial statement elements include net revenue (Revenue); Cost of Goods Sold (COGS); net income (Income); and cash from operating (CFO), investing (CFI), and financing activities (CFF).
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Profitability, although a necessary long-term goal, was not expected for several years. Investors understood and initially accepted the importance of growth over efficiency. Although many appreciated that the initial strategy was robust enough to allow the company to survive the bursting of the Internet bubble, some wondered when, if ever, Amazon.com would turn a profit.
In contrast to the early focus of getting big fast, Bezos began focusing more on efficiency and ways to ‘‘Get the CRAP out’’ or identifying products that ‘‘Can’t Realize Any Profit’’ (Spector 2002, 239). The annual 10-K reports reveal this increasing focus on efficiency over time. Prior to 2000, the only discussion of efficiency is in terms of the potential adverse effects of various risk factors on efficiency. In contrast, the 2000 annual 10-K report states that the company was beginning to ‘‘focus on balancing revenue growth with operating efficiency’’ (Amazon.com 2000, 20).
Amazon.com ultimately did turn a profit in the fourth quarter of 2002, one penny per share, and since then has been consistently profitable. Starting in 2003, Amazon.com states in every annual 10-K report that the ‘‘financial focus is on long-term, sustainable growth in free cash flow,’’ which is driven by ‘‘increasing operating income and efficiently managing working capital and capital expenditures’’ (Amazon.com 2003, 22).
When Amazon.com first started, many questioned whether it could effectively compete with the behemoths of the book industry, Barnes & Noble and Borders. While Amazon.com started out trying to catch these market leaders, the tables turned. These traditional brick-and-mortar companies have tried to follow Amazon.com’s lead, but have lagged. The combined revenue of Barnes & Noble and Borders for 2010 was just over $8 billion, much lower than Amazon.com’s 2010 revenue of $34 billion (Borders Group 2010). Ironically, Borders declared bankruptcy on February 16, 2011.
Sources of Growth at Amazon.com
As is typically the case in a startup, the initial capital investment was made by the entrepreneur himself, Jeff Bezos. Subsequent investments were made by family members and by venture capitalists. When the potential of the company became evident, Amazon.com planned its IPO. Shares initially traded on May 15, 1997 at $18.00 per share,1 raising nearly $50 million in capital.
The stock price increased significantly reaching a peak of $106.69 on December 10, 1999 (see Exhibit 2). However, the price fell significantly after 1999 when the tech bubble burst, but has since recovered and even exceeded the tech bubble peak (the price exceeds $200 toward the end of the time period graphed in Exhibit 2). On November 21, 2005, Amazon.com entered the S&P 500 index, replacing AT&T.
Much of Amazon.com’s initial and continued growth is from internal capital investment. Since inception, Amazon.com has invested over $3 billion internally (see Exhibit 3). Beginning in 1998, the company began complementing internal investment with acquisition activity. As of 2010, Amazon.com has acquired or made significant investment in dozens of companies, investing over $1.5 billion in cash and nearly $2.3 billion in stock (see Exhibit 3).
The acquisitions were an important part of the strategy to grow quickly. They enabled Amazon.com to expand its technology (e.g., Junglee was acquired for $180 million of stock in 1998 for its virtual database technology), product lines (e.g., investments were made in drugstore.com, pets.com, and homegrocer.com in 1998), and customer base (e.g., Amazon.com
1 Note that due to stock splits, one share of Amazon.com stock purchased in 1997 is equivalent to 12 shares in 2010 (see Exhibit 2).
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acquired Zappos.com in 2009 for $1.134 billion of stock partially for Zappos’ loyal customer base).
The Importance of Cash Flow as a Metric of Firm Health
As discussed previously, in 2003 Amazon.com formally stated that the financial focus was growth in free cash flow. The change of focus is observed in the placement of the statement of cash flows relative to the other statements. In 1997, it was the fourth statement, coming after the statement of stockholders’ equity; the balance sheet was first, and the income statement was second. In 2000, the cash flow statement switched places with the statement of stockholders’ equity and moved to the third position. In 2003, the statement of cash flows was put in the first position, followed by the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of stockholders’ equity.
The popularity of cash flow as a measure of performance is due in part to the inherent importance of cash as the initial source of capital and the ultimate source of returns to investors through dividends. In Amazon.com’s case, positive cash from operations preceded positive income by one year (see Exhibit 1). In the wake of recent accounting scandals and hundreds of earnings restatements, cash flow has become an increasingly popular measure, commonly thought to be less subject to managerial manipulation. Many investors have concerns that Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) allow managers too much discretion to meet relevant earnings benchmarks.
EXHIBIT 2 Price History
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Although cash flow is less subject to manipulation than earnings, the sole reliance on cash flow
as a measure of performance can be problematic. One reason for this is that GAAP dictates the classification of certain items, such as interest-related cash flows in operating activities.2 Also,
complex transactions, such as customer-related loans (Weil 2004), can lead to inconsistent
classification of cash flows across companies, with the blessing of the auditor. Finally, transactions
can be structured to achieve a desired effect on cash flow.3
The History of the Statement of Cash Flows
In 1987, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued4 Statement No. 95,
Statement of Cash Flows, replacing the previously required funds statement (APB Opinion No. 19). The cash flow statement improved upon the fund statement in providing a format for companies to
follow, and a focus on cash and cash equivalents as opposed to the loosely defined funds that led to
low comparability of funds statements across firms.
EXHIBIT 3
Selected Investment Information from 1995–2010
Year CFI Net Change Securities CAPEX
Components of CAPEX:
Internal R&D Acquisitions Stock Issued
1995 ($52) $0 ($52) ($52) $0 $1,122 1996 (1,214) 0 (1,214) (1,214) 0 36 1997 (22,477) (15,256) (7,221) (7,221) 0 50,603 1998 (261,777) (214,425) (47,352) (28,333) (19,019) 225,624 1999 (951,959) (295,297) (656,662) (287,055) (369,607) 743,274 2000 163,978 361,269 (197,291) (134,758) (62,533) 30,985 2001 (253,294) (196,775) (56,519) (50,321) (6,198) 98,806 2002 (121,684) (82,521) (39,163) (39,163) 0 0 2003 236,651 277,542 (40,891) (45,963) 5,072 0 2004 (317,631) (157,303) (160,328) (89,328) (71,000) 0 2005 (778,000) (550,000) (228,000) (204,000) (24,000) 0 2006 (333,000) (85,000) (248,000) (216,000) (32,000) 0 2007 42,000 341,000 (299,000) (224,000) (75,000) 0 2008 (1,199,000) (372,000) (827,000) (333,000) (494,000) 0 2009 (2,337,000) (1,924,000) (413,000) (373,000) (40,000) 1,145,000 2010 (3,360,000) (2,029,000) (1,331,000) (979,000) (352,000) 0
Dollar amounts in thousands. The financial statement elements include: cash from investing activities (CFI); net capital expenditures (CAPEX), including from internal investment (Internal R&D) and acquisition activity (Acquisitions); the net change in marketable securities (Net Change Securities); and the dollar amount of stock issued in connection with acquisition activity (Stock Issued) as reported on the statement of stockholders’ equity. Note that stock issued in 1997 is primarily related to the initial public offering (IPO). Stock issued before 1997 is for investments by Jeff Bezos and others before the IPO. Stock issued after 1997 is primarily related to acquisition activity.
2 Under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), interest is classified as an operating activity, while under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), it can be classified in any of the sections.
3 Consider the purchase of equipment on credit. If the vendor directly supplies credit, there is no immediate effect on the cash flow statement because it is a noncash transaction. However, if funding is acquired from a bank, and the firm then pays the vendor, a financing cash inflow is presented along with an investing cash outflow.
4 Under the new Accounting Standards Codification, Statement No. 95 is found under topic 230-10.
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The statement of cash flows reconciles the beginning and ending balances of cash. It provides a
top-level summary of cash transactions that occurred during the period organized broadly into three
sections: operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. Although much of the classification is intuitive (e.g., revenue-related cash receipts are operating activities and payments
related to acquisitions are investing activities), the classification of some transactions is not always obvious.
Companies can present operating cash flows using either the direct or the indirect method. In
practice, most companies use the indirect method, and Amazon.com is no exception. The direct method is described as follows in Statement No. 95 (FASB 1987, Appendix B, para. 106 ):
The direct method shows as its principal components operating cash receipts and payments, such as cash received from customers and cash paid to suppliers and employees, the sum of which is net cash flow from operating activities. (emphasis in original)
In contrast, the indirect method does not show the amount of cash paid and received. It instead reconciles net income with cash from operations, described as follows:
The indirect method starts with net income and adjusts it for revenue and expense items that were not the result of operating cash transactions in the current period to reconcile it to
net cash flow from operating activities. (emphasis in original)
The primary benefit of the direct method is that it directly shows operating cash receipts and
payments, which may help predict future cash flow. The benefit of the indirect method is that it provides a concise list of major differences between net income and operating cash flow, which are
likely of interest to investors.
When the FASB was deliberating Statement No. 95, it received many comments from the
public (including a majority from commercial lenders) that were generally in favor of requiring the
direct method. Lenders argued that knowing operating cash receipts and payments was important in assessing credit risk. The CFA Institute argues it is not simple for users to convert from the indirect
to the direct method (CFA Institute 2005). Academic research shows that there are significant errors when users attempt this conversion and that investors can forecast future performance better with
direct method disclosures (Orpurt and Zang 2009).
However, most companies were opposed to the direct method, arguing that it would impose additional costs. Most already employed the indirect method to prepare the funds
statement, so their financial systems were structured to gather the necessary information for the indirect method.
The standard indicates that the ideal would be to provide a direct method cash flow statement
along with ‘‘a reconciliation of net income and net cash flow from operating activities in a separate schedule’’ (FASB 2011, ASC 230-10-45-29). However, the FASB ultimately allowed companies to use the indirect method, but required that changes in inventory, receivables, and payables be provided to allow users ‘‘to make their own rough approximations of operating cash receipts and payments’’5 (FASB 1987, para. 121). Companies that choose to use the direct method must separately report a reconciliation of cash flow with net income (FASB 2011, ASC 230-10-45-30).
5 For example, to estimate cash collections from customers, revenue is adjusted for changes in relevant balance sheet accounts (accounts receivable and deferred revenue). Increases in receivables occur when revenue is recognized but cash is not received; increases in receivables are subtracted from revenue. Similar logic leads to changes in deferred revenue being added to revenue. Cash collections are: Revenue – DAccounts Receivable þ DDeferred Revenue. Cash payments for inventory are computed as: –Cost of Goods Sold – DInventory þ DAccounts Payable; note that cash payments with this formula are negative.
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The Future of the Statement of Cash Flows
As a part of the effort to achieve convergence in accounting standards, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the FASB have undertaken a number of joint projects, including Financial Statement Presentation, which covers the statement of cash flows. Although as of 2011 the process is still far from complete, the IASB and the FASB have reached agreement in regard to the statement of cash flows. In particular, companies will be required to use the direct method to prepare the operating section of the statement of cash flows (FASB 2008).
As a part of the convergence effort with the IASB, the FASB conducted interviews of financial statement users to understand how they use information, and what changes they would like to see in the information provided by companies. Among the findings was ‘‘a strong interest in a statement of cash flows that reports operating cash flows under the direct method’’ (FASB 2002, 1). In contrast, as discussed previously, preparers strongly prefer the indirect method. Requiring companies to use the direct method is consistent with a user focus of the standard-setting boards.
As of 2011, under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which are issued by the IASB or its predecessor, companies have the option to prepare the operating section of the statement of cash flows with either the direct or indirect method. As with U.S. GAAP, they are encouraged to use the direct method because it ‘‘provides information which may be useful in estimating future cash flows and which is not available under the indirect method’’ (IASB 2010, 4). It appears that companies may not have this option much longer.
The Relation between the Statement of Cash Flows and the Other Financial Statements
The double-entry accounting system is based on the familiar accounting equation, where At represents the amount of assets in year t, Lt is the amount of liabilities, and Et is the amount of equity. The following equation represents the balance sheet of a firm:
Balance Sheet : At ¼ Lt þ Et Because every transaction must balance, any change in equity must be explained by changes in
assets and liabilities. Thus the accounting equation also holds using changes (D) in balances as follows: DAt ¼ DLt þ DEt. For the sake of illustration, assume the firm only engages in operating activities so that all balance sheet changes are due to operations. In this case, the change in equity equals the income for the period NIt, and the equation can be rearranged to represent the income statement as follows:
Income Statement : NIt ¼ DAt # DLt Positive income (an increase in equity) for the period will correspond with an increase in the
net assets of the firm (i.e., the change in assets exceeds the change in liabilities). This logic is the basis for the indirect method: the change in cash, DCasht, must be explained by the change in noncash assets, DNCAt, liabilities, and equity accounts.
The equation for the income statement can be written as NIt ¼ DCasht þ DNCAt – DLt simply by separating cash and noncash assets. Because we are assuming the firm only engages in operating activities, the change in cash is operating cash flow, CFOt. The equation can be rearranged as follows to provide a representation of the statement of cash flows:
Cash Flow Statement : CFOt ¼ NIt # DNCAt þ DLt This final equation is precisely the indirect method, explaining operating cash flow by reconciling net income with changes in other balance sheet accounts.
Note that the indirect method only applies to the operating section; the investing and financing sections are always presented using the direct method. When firms engage in investing and
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financing activities, any cash flows related to these activities are accounted for in the investing and financing sections. In other words, the operating section explains the operating changes in balance sheet accounts, while the investing and financing sections explain the changes due to investing and financing activities. In the absence of complicated transactions, the changes reported on the cash flow statement should articulate with, or agree with, those seen on the balance sheet. In practice, however, this rarely occurs (Bahnson et al. 1996). Exhibits 4–6 and 7–9 present Amazon.com’s financial statements for 1997 and 2010, respectively.
The financial statements of Amazon.com paint a picture of a growing and evolving company that eventually became successful. The purpose of this assignment is to understand how changes in a company over time are reflected in the financial statements, and to illustrate how the statement of cash flows works.
CASE QUESTIONS
1. Graph the financial statement items in Exhibit 1 and familiarize yourself with the 1997 and 2010 financial statements (Exhibits 4–6 and 7–9). Using your judgment, identify time periods of similar characteristics and classify them using the following life cycle terms: introduction, growth, maturity, or decline (see Exhibit 10 for definitions). For each period labeled, provide support for your classification. Specifically discuss the patterns observed (e.g., in revenue, income, operating cash flow, investing cash flow, and financing cash flow) and how they indicate where Amazon.com is in the life cycle.
2. Comment on the general trend in total investment in Exhibit 3 (cash and stock) over time (excluding marketable securities). Provide possible explanations for the variation observed.
3. What factors do you think influence Amazon.com’s decision to use cash versus stock in its acquisitions? Comment on trends observed over time in the relative amount of cash versus stock acquisitions in Exhibit 3.
4. Why do you think Amazon.com invests in marketable securities? What effect does this have on investing cash flow (CFI)?
5. What are the largest adjustments listed in the operating section of the cash flow statement for 1997 (Exhibit 4)? Provide an interpretation and discuss whether they should be of concern to investors.
6. Referring only to the income statement and the balance sheet (Exhibits 5 and 6 for 1997, and Exhibits 8 and 9 for 2010) estimate (a) the amount of cash collected from customers, and (b) the amount of cash paid for inventory in 1997 and 2010.
7. Referring to the cash flow statements from 1997 and 2010 (Exhibits 4 and 7), does the change in the balance sheet accounts you used to answer Question 6 articulate with (i.e., agree with) what is reported in the statement of cash flows?
8. In 2009 Amazon.com acquired Zappos.com in a stock acquisition valued at more than $1 billion. Assume that in the acquisition, the value of Zappos.com’s inventory was $200 million, and that the acquisition happened on the last day of the fiscal year.
a. Discuss the effect of the inventory acquired from Zappos on Amazon.com’s balance sheet.
b. Discuss the effect on the statement of cash flows, including what the effect would be if the company used the direct method.
c. How does your answer to part b change if this were a cash acquisition instead?
9. Use the information provided in Exhibit 11 to identify the first year in which the balance sheet and cash flow statement do not articulate. Also identify the year with the ‘‘worst’’
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articulation, i.e., the greatest absolute difference between the changes observed on the balance sheet compared with those reported on the cash flow statement. Provide possible explanations for why they do or do not articulate.
10. Using the direct method, prepare the operating section of the statement of cash flows for 1997 using the information available in the financial statements (Exhibits 4–6 ) as well as the supplementary cash flow information (Exhibit 12). The provided template (Exhibit 13) may be useful to prepare your answer. Does the cash from operations you compute using the direct-method agree with what Amazon.com reports using the indirect method?
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EXHIBIT 4 1997 Statement of Cash Flows
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EXHIBIT 5 1997 Income Statement
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EXHIBIT 6 1997 Balance Sheet
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EXHIBIT 7 2010 Statement of Cash Flows
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EXHIBIT 8 2010 Income Statement
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EXHIBIT 9 2010 Balance Sheet
* Note: ‘‘Accounts receivable, net’’ includes other current assets. This is ignored for simplicity.
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EXHIBIT 10
Descriptions of Life Cycle Stages
! Introduction is characterized by small firms in the midst of defining their product, strategy, and market. Firms in this stage are typically unprofitable, have low revenues, and require continued funding to remain viable.
! Growth is characterized by firms that emerge from introduction with a defined product and strategy, and growing market share. The focus is more on continued product development and increasing market share, and less on efficiency. Revenue growth is exponential, but the firm is likely unprofitable and still requires funding for daily operations and capital investment.
! Maturity is characterized by firms that have refined their product, developed their strategy, and established stable revenues and market share. Firms have reached profitability and generate enough cash flow to fund capital investment, repay debt, and possibly begin paying dividends to shareholders. Firms begin to focus more on efficiency.
! Decline is characterized by firms producing goods or providing services for which demand is decreasing, often using outdated technology. Revenues begin to decline, and investment is significantly reduced.
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D o ll
ar am
o u n ts
in th
o u sa
n d s.
T h e
fi n an
ci al
st at
em en
t el
em en
ts in
cl u d e:
ac co
u n ts
re ce
iv ab
le (A
R );
in v en
to ry
(I N
V );
ac co
u n ts
p ay
ab le
(A P
); an
d d ef
er re
d re
v en
u e
(D E
F R
E V
). F
o r
ea ch
o f
th es
e it
em s,
th e
en d -o
f- y ea
r b al
an ce
is p re
se n te
d as
w el
l as
th e
ch an
g e
re p o rt
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st at
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st at
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t o f
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fl o w
s re
p o rt
s ad
d it
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to d ef
er re
d re
v en
u e
(A d d it
io n s
D E
F R
E V
) an
d th
e am
o rt
iz at
io n
o f
d ef
er re
d re
v en
u e
(A m
o rt
iz a ti
o n
D E
F R
E V
), w
h ic
h to
g et
h er
eq u al
th e
ch an
g e
in d ef
er re
d re
v en
u e.
Cash Flows at Amazon.com 369
Issues in Accounting Education Volume 28, No. 2, 2013
EXHIBIT 13 Direct Cash Flow Worksheet for 1997
EXHIBIT 12
Supplementary 1997 Cash Flow Informationa
Property Plant and Equipment ! Depreciation and amortization expense is $3,388, of which $64 is the amortization of finance charges
from the issuance of debt (the balance sheet account amortized is ‘‘deferred charges’’). The remaining portion relates to depreciation of fixed assets.
! PPE includes capital leases. ! Amazon.com issued $1,000 of common stock in exchange for PPE. ! Some of Amazon’s PPE suppliers provide financing for purchases of fixed assets. Amazon.com owes
one supplier $3,021 for a purchase of PPE made in 1997. This debt is included in long-term debt.
! During 1997, Amazon.com purchased $181 of PPE that was financed directly by a supplier with short-term credit (this is unrelated to capital leases, which increased coincidentally by $181). Even though it relates to investing activities, this liability is recorded on the balance sheet with current liabilities in the balance sheet line item ‘‘other liabilities and accrued expenses.’’
Other Information ! Deposits reported in the balance sheet relate to miscellaneous operating activities. ! Amazon.com issued $75,000 of long-term debt during fiscal year 1997. Financing costs of $2,304
were paid to the underwriters of the debt. This amount was capitalized and will be amortized over the life of the debt. The deferred financing costs appear as a long-term asset with the label ‘‘deferred charges.’’
Stock Transactions ! During 1997, Amazon.com issued 75,000 shares to settle the $500 liability recorded on the balance
sheet as ‘‘accrued product development’’ at the end of 1996.
a All dollar amounts are in thousands.
370 Price
Issues in Accounting Education Volume 28, No. 2, 2013