9. Groupons management needed significant cash to fund its growth. It had three options:

(A) seek private investment, (B) sell the company to Yahoo! or Google, or (C) go public.

a. Contrast the financial reporting challenges across the three options.

b. In March 2012, Groupons auditors noted a material weakness in the companys

internal controls related to

deficiencies in the financial statement close process.

Would this disclosure have been made if Groupon had chosen options (A) or (B)?

10. In your opinion, do the problems with Groupons choice of accounting methods, use of a

non-GAAP metric, and material weakness in its internal control reflect a lack of

management experience or a lack of management integrity?