[PaulHoule]

I think the big attraction of SAP is that it lets CEOs smooth out earnings.

They can get projections of what the number are going to be for the quarter continuously so in the last few weeks of the quarter they can speed up or slow down sales and spending to hit the earnings numbers they want.

[arethuza]

Not sure why you are being downvoted - I used to know a guy who had been head of sales for a large tech company that you will have heard of and he said they did exactly that - delay sales from one period to the next to smooth things out and to be closer to market expectations.

Their sales contracts apparently had clauses allowing them to delay sales for just this reason.

NB That kind of sales reporting isn't just from SAP - Oracle Hyperion and IBM Cognos are the biggest players in consolidated financial reporting.

[jhayward]

Cisco Systems used to be renowned for hitting consensus revenue projections precisely, always consensus +1 cent.

That kind of "management" is a red flag IMO.