Then NetEase announced that it may have booked revenue for the first quarter that it had not yet received, and it started an investigation into its accounting for last year.

Goldman does not break out its commodities trading profits, but last quarter, the company's fixed income, currency and commodities division booked net revenue of $1.5 billion, its second best quarter ever.

But in January, the company said that in October 2003 it had given government investigators evidence linking Mr. Silverstein to its practice of booking revenue from unsigned contracts.

But according to former Enron executives, the trading division relied heavily on so-called mark-to-market accounting to value its trading positions, booking revenue from long-term contracts immediately.

In October, the company shocked investors by acknowledging that it had inflated results in the first half of this year by prematurely booking revenue from the Henson company.

According to prosecutors, U.S. Foodservice overstated its earnings from 2000 to February 2003 by more than $800 million by booking revenue from promotional rebates that had never been earned.

U.S. Foodservice was accused of overstating its earnings in at least fiscal 2001 and 2002 by more than $800 million by booking revenue from promotional rebates from suppliers that had never been earned.

The company's policy of booking revenue for its Medco unit had no impact on earnings, Mr. Dreman said, adding, "I think it's a pretty good company."

For instance, the company adopted a policy in 1979 of booking revenue on merchandise that had been shipped to customers on a no-obligation, 90-day trial basis.

In a related action, the S.E.C. filed a civil complaint against Mr. Silverstein yesterday, contending that he had committed accounting fraud by booking revenue prematurely.