>> Someone said that this value is perfectly clear when it is used as a tax deduction. <<

But that's after the fact. You report a gain or loss on your taxes when you sell the stock, not when you are given an option to buy it.

>> From what I know about accounting (back home, though) is that when projections and estimates are used, they are corrected up or down once the real numbers come through. So, when the options are exercised, the accounting should book the difference between the estimated price and the real price as of that day. <<

Yes, and that is one of the options being discussed. But you're still dealing in estimates, which are by definition manipulatable. What's to prevent the company from underestimating (on purpose) the future stock price and thus minimizing the expense? Nothing, that's what. No matter how you do it, we're still pretty far afield from the purist principle of an income statement measuring dollars in and out during the financial year.

>> "You never give me your money
You only give me your funny papers"
- Lennon <<

And in the middle of negotiations
I break down

Mike (doesn't break down)