Determining an arm’s length profit indicator (aka profit ratio) requires two equations, and not one equation, as prescribed in financial statement analysis textbooks. E.g., Bernstein (1993), Drake & Fabozzi (2012). An accounting critique of univariate profit ratios is found in Whittington (1986).
Asset intensity adjustments to operating profits, which I reviewed performing audit assistance, lack economic or statistical merit and are inconsistent with guidance provided in the transfer pricing regulations.
As a transfer pricing practitioner with many years' experience across many industries and transactions, I’ve heard many reasons for making working capital adjustments (WCA). I’ve seen it described as ‘standard’ or ‘automatic’, as well as ‘unreliable’ and ‘rarely to be performed’. I’ve also heard some describe it as an adjustment they ‘believe in’, or an economic factor that an arm’s length party would ‘always’ take into account in their pricing. To untangle this knot, I’ve set out below some of the issues that I would consider before undertaking a WCA.
Adjusting cost of goods sold (COGS) to remove the effect of one-year changes in inventory is important before determining the arm’s length gross profits resulting from crossborder related-party purchases of goods and services. Adjusted COGS produce also a more reliable measure of the operating profits of the tested party (audited taxpayer) and the selected comparable companies.
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