Shares of The Boeing Company have tanked 9 percent today on a report that regulators are investigating the company’s accounting practices. The investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission is rumored to be based on whether Boeing properly accounted for costs and sales figures for its 747 and 787 aircraft. Boeing has more than $30 billion of deferred production costs that it has not yet charged off against its income. Boeing had an $885 million write off against the 747-8’s cost in the forth quarter, as the company sold just 2 jumbo jets in the past 2 years. Boeing uses an accounting method called “program accounting” to defer aircraft production costs, spreading it over a large chunk of airplane deliveries.
