Prior to 1995, there is substantial evidence in the case (Exhibit 2 in the case) to suggest that the benefits of the expense of the free-trial CD marketing programs in acquiring customers will accrue over multiple periods. The average lifetime of a user was projected to be approximately 32 months (prior to 1995) and this makes a strong case, in my opinion, for capitalizing these expenses, as AOL did.
With the advent of competition, as discussed earlier, compounded with the difficulty of retaining retail customers, especially online, it is highly unlikely that AOL’s customers are likely to stay for an extended period of time just because of the initial inducements. Hence, I would recommend that the accounting policy be changed gradually over the course of two to three years starting this year by decreasing the amortizable life of the subscriber acquisition costs from 24 months to 0 months linearly (example, 24 to 15 to 8 to 0) – i.e., until the costs are completely expensed.
If subscriber acquisition costs are written off (expensed) instead of being capitalized, the value of the asset created by this cost will not show up on the balance sheet as part of the total assets of the firm. This, in turn, creates ripple effects for the measurement of capital and profitability ratios for the firm. The balance sheet would show a reduction in the amount of assets by $130,473 million (See Appendix C.1). The profitability ratios (ROE, ROA and ROC) are much better when the costs are capitalized (See Appendix C.2).
Expensing subscriber acquisition costs increases expenses in the income statement by $51,467 million and causes the operating income and net income to be much lower than if they were capitalized. The operating income and net income consists of loss of $19,294 million and $33,647 respectively in the case of capitalization versus a loss of $70,131 million and $84,484 respectively in the case of expensing (See Appendix B). However, there is a superior tax benefit if one were to expense – the differential tax benefit between the two approaches is $17,285 million (See Appendix C.3).
Appendix A
A.1 Case Discussion Questions
- Prior to 1995, why was AOL so successful in the commercial online industry relative to its competitors CompuServe and Prodigy?
- As of 1995, what are the key changes taking place in the commercial online industry? How are they likely to affect AOL’s future prospects?
- Was AOL’s policy to capitalize subscriber acquisition costs justified prior to 1995?
- Given the changes discussed in question 2, do you think AOL should change its accounting policy as of 1995? Is the company’s response consistent with your view?
- What would be the effect on AOL’s 1995 balance sheet if all capitalized subscriber acquisition costs were written off?
- If AOL expensed all the subscriber acquisition costs incurred in fiscal 1995 during the same year, what would be the effect on its income statement?
Appendix B
B.1 Adjustments to Operating Income and Net Income
When the Subscriber Acquisition Costs are expensed (versus capitalized) the operating income and net income need to be adjusted by adding back the Amortization of Subscriber Acquisition Costs ( that was subtracted out when the expenses were capitalized) and subtracting out the current year’s Subscriber Acquisition Costs.
Adjusted Operating Earnings = Operating Earnings +
Amortization of Subscriber Acquisition Costs –
Current Year’s Subscriber Acquisition Costs
= (19,294) + 60,294 – 111,761
= $ (70,131) Million
Adjusted Net Income = Net Income +
Amortization of Subscriber Acquisition Costs –
Current Year’s Subscriber Acquisition Costs
= (33,647) + 60,294 – 111,761
= $ (84,484) Million
Appendix C
C.1 Valuing the Subscriber Acquisition Costs Asset
The Subscriber Acquisition Costs are amortized over an amortizable life of 24 months. The value of the Subscriber Acquisition Cost asset is calculated using the following estimate:
So, in the case of an asset with a five-year life, the value of the asset is obtained by cumulating 1/5th of the expenses from 4 years ago, 2/5th of the expenses from 3 years ago, 3/5th of the expenses from 2 years ago, 4/5th of the expenses from last year and this year’s entire expense.
C.2 Calculation of Book Value of Assets/Equity/Capital, ROA, ROE and ROC
When Subscriber Acquisition Costs are expensed, the following changes need to be made to the Book Value of Assets, Book Value of Capital and Book Value of Equity:
Adjusted Book Value of Assets = Book Value of Assets –
Value of Subscriber Acquisition Costs Asset
= $406,464 M- $130,473 M = $275,991 Million
Adjusted Book Value of Equity = Book Value of Equity –
Value of Subscriber Acquisition Costs Asset
= $217,944 M- $130,473 M = $87,471 Million
Adjusted Book Value of Capital = Book Value of Capital –
Value of Subscriber Acquisition Costs Asset
= $239,754 M- $130,473 M = $109,281 Million
C.3 Differential Tax Benefit
Subscriber Acquisition Costs in 1995 = $111,761 million
Amortization of Subscriber Acquisition Costs in 1995 = $60,924 million
Tax Deduction if Subscriber Acquisition Costs were expensed = $111,761 million * 0.34
= $ 37,999 million
Tax Deduction if Subscriber Acquisition Costs were capitalized = $60,924 million * 0.34
= $ 20,714 million
By expensing instead of capitalizing, AOL is able to derive a much larger tax benefit ($37,999 million instead of $20,714 million). The differential tax benefit can be written as:
Differential Tax Benefit = $37,999 - $20,714 = $17,285 million
