SEC Company Response from TAG IT PACIFIC INC (CIK 0001047881) — Dec 6, 2005
TAG IT PACIFIC INC (CIK 0001047881)
Date: Dec. 6, 2005 · CIK: 0001047881 · Accession: 0001170918-05-000929
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: November 8, 2005
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STUBBS, ALDERTON & MARKILES, LLP JOHN MCILVERY
LETTERHEAD Partner
Direct Voice 818.444.4502
Direct Fax 818.474.8602
E-Mail jmcilvery@biztechlaw.com
December 6, 2005
VIA EDGAR
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Mail Stop 3561
Washington, D.C. 20549
RE: TAG-IT PACIFIC, INC.
RESPONSES TO STAFF COMMENTS OF NOVEMBER 8, 2005 WITH RESPECT
TO:
ITEM 4.01 FORM 8-K FILED NOVEMBER 7, 2005
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004
FORM 10-Q FOR THE QUARTERS ENDED MARCH 31, 2005 AND JUNE 30,
2005 FILE NO. 1-13669
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of Tag-It Pacific, Inc.(the "COMPANY"), we hereby provide the
following responses in reply to the Staff's comment letter, dated November 8,
2005 (the "COMMENT LETTER"). In addition, we have enclosed copies of (i) the
amendment on Form 8-K/A filed on November 29, 2005 (the "FORM 8-K/A"), which
amends the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 7, 2005, and
(ii) Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A (the "FORM 10-K/A") to the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, which is being filed
along with this letter.
The factual information provided herein relating to the Company has
been made available to us by the Company. Paragraph numbering used for each
supplemental response set forth below corresponds to the numbering used in the
Comment Letter.
FORM 8-K
1. WE NOTE THAT YOUR AUDITORS WILL RESIGN AT A FUTURE DATE. PLEASE FILE AN
AMENDMENT TO THIS FORM 8-K WHEN BDO HAS COMPLETED ALL WORK AS YOUR
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT. WE WOULD EXPECT YOU TO DISCLOSE THAT THERE WERE
NO DISAGREEMENTS THROUGH NOVEMBER 1, 2005, AND THAT THERE ARE STILL NO
DISAGREEMENTS THROUGH BDO'S LAST DAY AS YOUR PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT, IF
TRUE. YOUR EXISTING DISCLOSURE IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH SIMPLY SAYS THAT
THERE WERE NO DISAGREEMENTS IN THE SUBSEQUENT INTERIM PERIOD. WE
BELIEVE YOU SHOULD
15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 525, Encino, California 91436
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 6, 2005
Page 2
REVISE THAT DISCLOSURE TO DEFINE WHEN THAT SUBSEQUENT INTERIM PERIOD
ENDS. PLEASE REVISE AS NECESSARY.
The Company has revised the disclosure in the Form 8-K/A to confirm
that BDO's resignation was effective November 22, 2005 and to specify that there
were no disagreements through that date.
2. WE NOTE THAT YOU HAVE NOT YET SELECTED NEW AUDITORS. PLEASE FILE A NEW
ITEM 4.01 FORM 8-K WHEN YOU ENGAGE NEW AUDITORS.
The Company acknowledges the Staff's comment.
3. SUPPLEMENTALLY, PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH ANY LETTER OR WRITTEN
COMMUNICATION TO AND FROM BDO REGARDING THE SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES
THAT CONSTITUTED A MATERIAL WEAKNESS AS DISCLOSED IN THE FILING. IF
THEY DID NOT ADVISE YOU OF THE DEFICIENCIES IN WRITING, PLEASE TELL US
HOW THIS INFORMATION WAS COMMUNICATED TO YOU.
BDO Seidman, LLP, did not provide the Company with a letter or other
written communication regarding the significant deficiencies that constituted a
material weakness as disclosed in the Company's filing. These disclosures were
provided orally to the Company's Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and
the full Board of Directors, as described below.
BDO Seidman, LLP, advised the Company at a meeting of the Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors held on March 30, 2005 and also at a meeting
of the Board of Directors held on March 30, 2005, that additional disclosures
regarding material weaknesses related to the inventory held in a third party
warehouse and post closing adjustments were required in the Company's Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2004.
BDO Seidman, LLP, advised the Company at a meeting of the Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors, held on May 12, 2005 to discuss its review
of the Company's first quarter results, that there were no material weaknesses
for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.
BDO Seidman, LLP advised the Company at a meeting of the Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors, held on August 19, 2005 to discuss its
review of the Company's second quarter results, that there were significant post
closing adjustments related to the allowance for doubtful accounts, reserve for
inventory obsolescence, and deferred tax asset that suggest a material weakness
in the Company's closing process for the quarter ended June 30, 2005.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 6, 2005
Page 3
BDO Seidman, LLP advised the Company at a meeting of the Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors, held on November 21, 2005 to discuss its
review of the Company's third quarter results. BDO identified these issues in
its presentation to the Audit Committee, which stated that there were a
"significant number of post closing entries recorded indicating material
weaknesses in the Company's closing process similar to those cited at both
December 31, 2004 and June 30, 2005."
4. TO THE EXTENT NOT ALREADY DISCLOSED IN YOUR FORM 8-K AND FORM 10-K,
PLEASE TELL US IN REASONABLE DETAIL, THE NATURE OF EACH MATERIAL
WEAKNESS AND THE AMOUNTS INVOLVED, IF ANY. ALSO TELL US:
o IN WHAT PERIOD EACH MATERIAL WEAKNESS AND ACCOUNTING ERROR OR
MISAPPLICATION OF GAAP OCCURRED;
o THE AMOUNT OF ANY ACCOUNTING ERROR OR MISAPPLICATION OF GAAP;
o THE REASON(S) FOR EACH ERROR OR MISAPPLICATION OF ACCOUNTING;
o WHETHER OR NOT YOU INTEND TO RESTATE ANY PRIOR PERIOD FOR ANY
ADJUSTMENTS. IF NOT, TELL US WHY NOT; AND
o IN DETAIL, ALL STEPS YOU HAVE TAKEN (OR PLAN TO TAKE) AND
PROCEDURES YOU HAVE IMPLEMENTED (OR PLAN TO IMPLEMENT) TO
CORRECT EACH CONCERN.
As reported in the Company's Form 8-K filed on November 7, 2005, the
Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended June 30, 2005 and
September 30, 2005 and the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2004, the Company had the following material weaknesses:
o A material weakness related to the physical controls over
approximately $1.0 million of the Company's inventory located
in a third party warehouse which was included in the Company's
financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2004.
This weakness was identified by the Company's management in
connection with their year-end physical inventory count. The
Company believes this deficiency was limited to the third
party warehouse at which the inventory was located. The third
party warehouse, without the Company's knowledge or consent,
moved the inventory to different locations within their
warehouse facility. Therefore, the locations shown in the
Company's detailed inventory records did not match with the
actual locations of the physical inventory, causing difficulty
in locating the inventory during the physical count. The
inventory was verified and counted and it was determined that
all inventory items were present and no write off was
required. By working with the third party warehouse, the
Company was able
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 6, 2005
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to agree upon improvements to the warehouse's procedures for
protecting the Company's inventory in their storage space. The
Company has decided to move its inventory to another third
party warehouse that the Company believes has better controls,
systems and procedures in place.
o A material weakness related to recording post-closing
adjustments in the Company's financial statements for the year
ended December 31, 2004 related to the allowance for doubtful
accounts and the deferred tax asset, which weakness was
identified by BDO Seidman in connection with their year-end
audit of the Company's financial statements. The allowance for
doubtful accounts was increased by $5.0 million and the
deferred tax asset was decreased by $1.8 million. Both of
these adjustments were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2004.
To address the material weakness related to the allowance for
doubtful accounts, the Company continues to monitor its
accounts receivables, its credit approval process and its
collection history to eliminate the material weakness related
to the allowance for doubtful accounts. To address the
material weakness related to the deferred tax asset, the
Company revised its valuation approach to more accurately
reflect its most recent performance and the changes occurring
in its marketplace resulting in an improved forecast for
determining the probability of realizing any deferred tax
asset.
o A material weakness related to post-closing adjustments for
the Company's financial statements for the quarter ended June
30, 2005 related to the allowance for doubtful accounts, the
reserve for inventory obsolescence and the deferred tax asset,
which weakness was identified by BDO Seidman in connection
with their review of the Company's financial statements for
the second quarter. The allowance for doubtful accounts was
increased by $6,372,000, the reserve for inventory
obsolescence was increased by $1,550,000, and the deferred tax
asset was decreased by $1,000,000. These three adjustments
were recorded in the second quarter. The steps taken to
correct the material weaknesses related to the allowance for
doubtful accounts and the deferred tax asset consist of better
application of the corrective actions taken to mitigate these
same concerns that were identified by BDO during their
year-end audit. The steps taken to correct the material
weakness related to reserves for inventory obsolescence
include implementing a more detailed approach to the Company's
inventory review process.
o A material weakness related to post-closing adjustments in the
Company's financial statements for the quarterly period ended
September 30, 2005, primarily related to the impairment of
goodwill, the collectabilitiy of a tax refund and the
collectability of a claim against a supplier.
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 6, 2005
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None of the material weaknesses listed above involved an accounting
error or a misapplication of GAAP.
The Company does not intend to restate any prior periods for any
adjustments, because all the appropriate adjustments were recorded in the
periods in which they occurred.
5. PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH A SCHEDULE OF YOUR 2004 FISCAL YEAR END FOURTH
QUARTER ADJUSTMENTS TO CLOSE THE BOOKS, OR ADJUSTMENTS RECORDED IN
CONNECTION WITH OR AS A RESULT OF THE AUDIT. CLEARLY EXPLAIN THE REASON
FOR EACH ADJUSTMENT. FOR EACH ADJUSTMENT, SHOW US THE IMPACT ON PRE-TAX
NET LOSS. QUANTIFY THE NET EFFECT OF ALL ADJUSTMENTS ON PRE-TAX NET
INCOME (LOSS). ALSO, TELL US WHY NONE OF THE ADJUSTMENTS RELATE TO A
PRIOR PERIOD. EXPLAIN IN DETAIL WHY YOU BELIEVE THE TIMING OF EACH
ADJUSTMENT IS APPROPRIATE.
The Company recorded fourth quarter 2004 post-closing adjustments
related to the allowance for doubtful accounts and deferred tax asset in its
financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2004.
With respect to the post-closing adjustment related to the allowance
for doubtful accounts, the Company's allowance for doubtful accounts at December
31, 2004 includes a reserve of $5.0 million recorded in the fourth quarter of
2004 based upon management's best estimate of the collectability of accounts
receivable primarily related to two customers. The Company had been in
discussions with these two customers and based upon these discussions, its past
relationship with these two customers and their payment history, the Company
used its best judgment to estimate the allowance for doubtful accounts as of
December 31, 2004. During the period of time between the closing of the
Company's books and the conclusion of the audit, the Company's management
obtained additional information on the collectability of accounts receivable
related primarily to two customers and determined to change its estimate of the
allowance for doubtful accounts. This adjustment was disclosed in the Company's
Results of Operations in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2004. This adjustment increased the Company's pre-tax loss by $5,000,000 for the
fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2004.
With respect to the post-closing adjustment related to the deferred tax
asset, after the Company's initial review, management concluded that it could
support its net deferred tax asset, based on available net operation loss
carryforwards and other factors. The Company reviewed and analyzed both the
positive and negative factors that could affect the realization of its deferred
tax asset. Upon further review with BDO Seidman, it was concluded that certain
of the Company's assumptions should be revised downward and the planning horizon
shortened. When these new criteria were incorporated into the
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Securities and Exchange Commission
December 6, 2005
Page 6
analysis, the Company recorded a post closing adjustment on April 5, 2005,
reducing the net deferred tax asset by $1.8 million to $1.0 million at December
31, 2004. During the fiscal year 2004, the Company believed that it was more
probable then not that it would be able to realize its recorded net deferred tax
asset, which consisted primarily of net operating loss carryforwards. It was
only after the Company's year-end audit and the passage of time that it
concluded that conditions had changed and that it needed to reduce its net
deferred tax asset. This decrease in the net deferred tax asset was disclosed