What is mark$-$to$-$market accounting?

Mark$-$to$-$mark account allowed Enron to book all of the revenue received from a contract on the day the contract was signed. By way of example, if the contract was a ten

year contract worth $$1M$ and $$100k$ was received when the contract was signed, then $$100k$ was booked in revenue on day one.

Mark$-$to$-$mark account allowed Enron to shift revenue from a contract on the day the contract was signed to a special purpose entity $($SPE$).$ By way of example, if the

contract was a ten year contract worth $$1$M$,$ but had liabilities associated with the contract, then the liabilities would not appear on Enron's balance sheet.

Mark$-$to$-$mark account allowed Enron to book all of the potential revenue from a contract on the day the contract was signed. By way of example, if the contract was a ten

year contract worth $$1M,$ then $$1M$ was booked in revenue on day one, even though it had not been earned. This accounting method is used in other, less volatile,

industries.

Mark$-$to$-$mark account allowed Enron to only book earned revenue after meeting the analysts' market projections, thus the notation for mark$-$to$-$marketing accounting.