Oracle's 1990 accounting scandal
The Oracle accounting scandal of 1990 involved the company overstating its revenues and profits by prematurely recognizing sales, particularly from aggressive "up-front" marketing tactics and unperformed consulting work
Oracle's sales teams were pressured to secure large upfront software sales, which contributed to the overstatement of revenue. The company recognized revenue for consulting work that had not yet been performed or was performed without a contract.
Oracle also failed to deduct sales of returned products and sometimes continued to bill customers for support services even after new software upgrades were purchased。