The top overall restatement issues are related to debt/equity, revenue recognition, expense recording and liability issues. The recent spike in SPAC restatements were related to warrants and financial instruments indexed to the company’s stock. Warrants and financial instruments grew increasingly complex, and the interpretations previously varied before the SEC stepped into the fray. Revenue recognition errors are easier to understand (or perhaps more succinctly hard to understand the correct treatment).  

In this article, Audit Analytics takes a closer look at restatements that resulted in a negative income impact during 2022.