Dr. John Anderson plans to license a technology that will be used to develop a device that would help physicians detect early-stage cancers. Patients would breathe directly into the device, which would analyze a user's breath for traces of key compounds associated with the most common cancers. In addition to eliminating the need for invasive biopsy procedures, the screening tool would also be inexpensive, easy to use, and provide immediate results. This case describes a hypothetical entrepreneur who must navigate and analyze a year of transactions including establishing a corporation, establishing a licensing agreement, purchasing machinery, and taking out a bank loan, in addition to preparing financial reports for the year.

In early December 2013, Jim Madsen, co-founder and owner of The Farm Winery was preparing the company's current and longer-term financing needs. Madsen needed to develop plans for fiscal year 2014, which included specific goals that were crucial to the success of the business. First, although the founders had historically contributed capital to meet seasonal cash needs, they were determined to achieve a point of self-sustainability. Next, the business required additional capital expenditures to supplement purchases made at the beginning of the business five years earlier. Finally, the team needed to determine whether to make an investment in additional vineyard development that would require a substantial cash outlay in the coming fiscal year but would not yield any fiscal benefit until nearly a decade later. This case describes The Farm Winery's background, past operating performance, distribution/sales, production, and financing in order to develop plans for fiscal year 2014 and determine the attainability of goals crucial to the success of the business.

Over the last 10 years, the number of publicly traded companies that have had to restate financial results has risen dramatically. Regardless of whether the restatements stemmed from the aggressive application of accounting standards or the need to correct intentional distortion of results by management, the outcome was often the same: a sudden and significant loss of shareholder value. In many cases, the restatement process led to significant turmoil within the company, including investigations by financial regulators, the resignation of chief executives and other senior officials, wide-scale restructuring and employee layoffs, and lawsuits against the board of directors, auditors, and other involved parties. The effects on the organization were often felt for years, taking a significant financial and reputational toll. This case examines five categories of financial restatements, as defined by Charles W. Mulford and Eugene E. Comiskey: recognizing premature or fictitious revenue, aggressive capitalization and extended amortization of expenses, misreporting assets and liabilities, other income statement items, and problems with cash flow reporting. Examples are provided for each category based on the events at Catalina Marketing, Krispy Kreme, Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Ahold, Nortel Networks, and Parmalat.