accounting estimates

Risk management, internal control, and accounting estimates and judgments were the top priority areas for 2007.

In addition, members will often discuss complex accounting estimates and judgments made by management and the implementation of new accounting principles or regulations.

The charges to be taken in the fourth quarter of 1993 include $490 million for business divestments, $77 million for restructuring and $65 million for changes in accounting estimates of promotions.

An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

On March 30, the company conceded that it had wrongly accounted for a number of deals, including those with the two offshore insurers, disclosing that the "known errors and changes in accounting estimates" could eliminate $1.7 billion from its net worth, or roughly 2 percent.