UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Before the SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Release No. 37269 / June 3, 1996 ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT Release No. 787 / June 3, 1996 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-9017 ______________________________ : In the Matter of : ORDER INSTITUTING PUBLIC : PROCEEDINGS AND OPINION AND JON R. ERICKSON, CPA, : ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 102(e) : OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES OF Respondent : PRACTICE ______________________________: I. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and they hereby are, instituted against Jon R. Erickson pursuant to paragraph (1) of Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice [17 C.F.R.  201.102(e)(1)]. -[1]- II. In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Erickson has submitted an Offer of Settlement ("Offer"), which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceeding brought by or on behalf of the Commission or to which the Commission is a party, and without admitting or denying the Commission's findings ---------FOOTNOTES---------- -[1]- Paragraph (1) of Rule 102(e) provides, in pertinent part: The Commission may . . . deny, temporarily or permanently, the privilege of appearing or practicing before it in any way to any person who is found by the Commission after notice of and opportunity for hearing in the matter . . . (ii) to be lacking in character or integrity or to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct; or (iii) to have willfully violated . . . any provision of the Federal securities laws [15 U.S.C.  77a to 80b-20] or the rules and regulations thereunder. . . . ==========================================START OF PAGE 2====== contained herein, except the Commission's finding that a Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief has been entered against him as set forth in Paragraph III., which is admitted, Erickson consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Public Proceedings and Opinion Pursuant to Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice. III. FINDINGS On the basis of this Order and the Offer of Settlement submitted by Erickson, the Commission finds -[2]- that: A. Erickson, age 39, was chief financial officer of Platinum Software Corporation ("PSC") from July 1992 until April 1994, and is a certified public accountant ("CPA"), registered in the state of California. B. PSC is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Irvine, California. PSC's common stock became registered with the Commission pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") in October 1992. From October 1992 through the time relevant to the allegations herein, PSC was required to file reports with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. C. On May 9, 1996, the Commission filed a complaint against Erickson in SEC v. Blackie, et al., Civil Action No. 96- 1059. On May 3, 1996, Erickson consented to the entry of a Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief ("Final Judgment"), without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, except as to subject matter jurisdiction, which he admitted. On May 14, 1996, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered the Final Judgment, which permanently enjoins Erickson from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), and Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5, 13b2-1 and 13b2-2 promulgated thereunder, orders him to disgorge trading losses avoided of $100,000, and prohibits him for a period of ten years from serving as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered with the Commission pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C.  78l] or that is required to file reports with the Commission pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C.  78o(d)]. ---------FOOTNOTES---------- -[2]- The findings herein are made pursuant to Erickson's offer of settlement and are not binding on any other person or entity named as a respondent in this or any other proceeding. ==========================================START OF PAGE 3====== D. The Commission's complaint filed in SEC v. Blackie, et al. alleges, among other things, that from March 1993 through January 1994, PSC's top officers, including Erickson, devised and perpetrated a scheme to overstate PSC's revenues and cash receipts. In particular, the complaint alleges that in furtherance of the scheme, Erickson and others made or caused to be made false accounting entries to PSC's books and records that caused PSC to improperly recognize revenue on sales that were undelivered or the subject of license agreements that were unsigned, subject to cancellation or other significant uncertainty about customer acceptance, or subject to significant remaining obligations on the part of PSC. The complaint further alleges that Erickson held PSC's books open for cash received after period-end, and arbitrarily reclassified accounts receivable as cash. As a result, the complaint alleges, PSC reported materially inflated revenue and net income and other materially false and misleading information on its financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 1993, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 1993 and the first quarter of 1994. The complaint also alleges that Erickson participated in the preparation of and signed each of these filings. E. Based on Paragraphs C. and D. above, Erickson willfully violated certain provisions of the federal securities laws and engaged in improper professional conduct within the meaning of Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice. IV. ORDER IMPOSING SANCTIONS Based on the foregoing, the Commission deems it appropriate and in the public interest to accept the Offer of Settlement submitted by Erickson and accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, effective immediately, that Erickson be, and hereby is, permanently denied the privilege of appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant. By the Commission. Jonathan G. Katz Secretary