Dell reveals new accounting woes

Dell will delay its financial filings owing to an internal investigation

Dell announced yesterday that an internal audit had found evidence of "a number of accounting errors, evidence of misconduct, and deficiencies in the financial control environment". 

The investigation has forced Dell to halt the filing of its annual reports, and could leave the company in contravention of rules laid down by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Dell said that it will not be able to meet the 18 April deadline for filing its 10-k report, and that the filing will not be made until the investigation is complete.

The delay is the latest in a series of setbacks for Dell. The company has been struggling to fend off chief rival HP, and November reports suggested that Dell was failing to take advantage of a growing consumer market.  

A January report by Gartner Research declared that Dell had been overtaken by HP for the lead in PC sales.  

The slide prompted the return of Michael Dell to the chief executive job as the firm tried to re-structure its position in the market and move away from low-end systems.  

Michael Dell's homecoming was soon soured, however, after a lawsuit alleged that Dell executives made more than $3.3bn through 'pump-and-dump' stock sales.