December
20, 2007
Mr.
Daniel L. Gordon
Accounting
Branch Chief
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
450
Fifth
Street, N.W.
Washington,
D.C. 20549-0405
Re: AmeriResource
“Technologies, Inc.
Form
10-KSB for the year ended December
31, 2004
Form
10-KSB for the year ended December
31, 2005
Form
10-QSB for the quarter ended June
30, 2006
File
No. 0-20033
Dear
Mr.
Gordon:
We
have
received your letter dated September 10, 2007, containing additional comments
regarding the above documents.
We
acknowledge that the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing
is
our responsibility. We acknowledge that the staff comments or changes
to disclosure do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with
respect to the filing. We acknowledge that the company may not assert
staff comments as a defense in any proceedings initiated by the Commission
or
any person under the federal securities laws of the United States.
The
following are our answers to your comments, numbered to correspond to your
comments.
General.
1.
We
await the filing of your amended
documents upon the conclusion of these comments including all agreed upon
changes thus far.
RESPONSE:
Per
previous discussions with your office, we will re-file amended K’s and Q’s at
the conclusion of the comments.
Form
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2004
Nature
of Business and Business Combinations, page F-8.
2. We
note your response to comment 3 however, we still do not understand how you
have
concluded that you did not have the ability to exercise significant influence
over the operating and financial policies of RoboServer based on your voting
interests. You state that third parties controlled the day-to-day
operations and direction of the company. Please tell us the nature of
the company’s relationship with these third parties. Specifically
tell us the termination provisions of the contracts with these third
parties. If these contracts were cancellable (as it appears that they
were since you state in your fourth response that you took over the day-to-day
operations of RoboServer. Please note that contracting out the
day-to-day operations to third parties does not necessarily affect your ABILITY
to exercise significant influence. Please revise your filing to
account for this investment using the equity method of accounting in
2004.
RESPONSE:
RoboServer
was organized by a software
engineer (with the assistance of outside third parties) who had experience
with
and proprietary developmental software developed. The engineer
was in charge of product development and marketing, and the company (AMRE)
was
assisting in raising funds to bring the end product to market. AMRE
intended to assist in raising funds, and then divest itself of the investment
to
fund other projects. There was no written contracts with any
cancelation provisions, other than the normal consulting agreement to set his
compensation. AMRE had the ability, and intention to divest itself of
a portion of the investment (compliant with 144 rules), and had no management
responsibilities, and accordingly recorded that portion as Marketable
securities.
3.
We
note your response to comment 4; however,
you did not provide us with an analysis of RoboServer based on EITF
96-16. Furthermore, you have not explained how you took over control
of RoboServer. Simply running the day-to-day operations and serving
as the manager of the company does not allow you to consolidate the
company. Based on the voting rights of the majority owner of
RoboServer’s common stock and your president’s voting rights through his
ownership of the Super Voting Preferred Stock of RoboServer, your company does
not control RoboServer. If a non-cancellable management agreement was
entered into with RoboServer giving your company control of the operations
of
RoboServer, please provide us with an analysis of RoboServer under FIN
46(R). Otherwise, please revise your filings to account for this
investment using the equity method of accounting.
RESPONSE:
According
to EITF 96-16, determining minority shareholder rights, and thereby
determining how the investment in an entity should be accounted for, is a
matter of judgment that depends on facts and circumstances. EITF
96-16 states in part:
The
Task
Force agreed that the assessment of whether the rights of a minority shareholder
should overcome the presumption of consolidation by the investor with a majority
voting interest in its investee is a matter of judgment that depends on facts
and circumstances. [Note: See STATUS section.] The Task Force further agreed
that the framework in which such facts and circumstances are judged should
be
based on whether the minority rights, individually or in the aggregate, provide
for the minority shareholder to effectively participate in significant decisions
that would be expected to be made in the "ordinary course of business."
Effective participation means the ability to block significant decisions
proposed by the investor who has a majority voting interest. That is, control
does not rest with the majority owner because the investor with the majority
voting interest cannot cause the investee to take an action that is significant
in the ordinary course of business if it has been vetoed by the minority
shareholder. [Note: See STATUS section.] This assessment of minority rights
should be made at the time a majority voting interest is obtained and should
be
reassessed if there is a significant change to the terms or in the
exercisability of the rights of the minority shareholder.
During
2004, the software engineer had control over the proprietary software, his
knowledge of its development and application, and therefore had veto power
over
the direction of the company. He was allowed to control the
operations, and make all decisions regarding financial decisions. In
2005, it was determined that the software could be enhanced and developed
further with the assistance of outside parties, his veto power was
gone. Therefore the status of RoboServer changed in
2005.
Accordingly,
the provisions of Regulation S-X – Reg 210.1-02, SFAS 141, and more
particularly FIN 46 (R) applied in years after 2004.
1.
Regulation
S-X – Reg 210.1-02 (g) Control. The term “control” (including the
terms “controlling,” “controlled by” and “under common control with”)
means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or
cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through
the ownership of voting shares, by contract, or otherwise.
2.
SFAS
141 - Footnotes
FAS
141,
Footnote 5 – Control is generally indicated by “ownership by one company,
directly or indirectly, of over fifty percent of the outstanding voting shares
of another company” (ARB No. 51, Consolidated Financial Statements, paragraph 2,
as amended by FASB Statement No. 94, Consolidation of all Majority-owned
Subsidiaries), although control may exist in other circumstances.
FIN
46(R) describes a variable interest entity (VIE) as an entity for which a
controlling interest arises via ownership of interests other than voting
stock. Companies with a controlling financial interest in a VIE
absorb more than half of its expected losses (RoboServer has not been profitable
since inception, and has relied on AMRE and other subsidiaries for financial
support). Both of these conditions exist in this situation.
Entities
are deemed VIEs if they meet three requirements:
1.
The entity is thinly capitalized (i.e., the
equity is insufficient to fund the entity's operations without additional
subordinated financial support), or the equity holders as a group have
insufficient equity investment at risk.
2.
The
entities must have variable interest
in the VIE (e.g., provide it with financial support).
3.
The
entity must be the VIE's primary
beneficiary (e.g., one absorbing more than half of expected losses or receiving
more than half of expected residual returns).
All
three of these requirements existed during December 31, 2005 to the
present.
The
interpretation of FIN 46(R), by FASB, states on page 11, under Variable Interest
Entities –
“5. An
entity shall be subject to consolidation according to the provisions of this
Interpretation if, by design, 5 the conditions
in
a, b, or c exist:
a.
The
total equity investment 6 at risk
is not
sufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional
subordinated financial support provided by any
parties, including equity
holders. …”
The
condition in “a.” did exist from the beginning, and it was necessary for AMRE
and its other subsidiaries to provide additional subordinated financial support
to RoboServer..
For
the above reasons, we believe AMRE properly included the financial statements
of
RoboServer in the AMRE consolidated financial statements for the year ended
December 31, 2005 and the subsequent financial reporting
periods.
4.
We
note your response to comment 5; however, ownership interests
held by a parent (your company’s president) are not relevant to the
determination of whether an entity should be consolidated. Although
it appears that your company and RoboServer may be under the common control
of
your president, this does not cause you to consolidate RoboServer in your
financial statements. In light of this fact, please tell us the
ownership of your company ONLY of RoboServer as of December 31, 2004 and
December 31, 2005 based on all of the voting interests outstanding (including
Super Voting Preferred Stock since these shares appear to represent 10 voting
interests each).
RESPONSE:
At
December 31, 2004 the company directly owned 46.9% of the common stock of
RoboServer (25,000,000 shares). At December 31, 2005, the company had
47.1% of the outstanding common stock. While the Super Voting stock
was transferred to the president as compensation, the company had an agreement
with its president (Delmar Janovec) that it could vote those shares as long
as
he remained president and CEO of AMRE (because he also has a Super Voting
Preferred in AMRE-so he could directly control AMRE, and AMRE could control
RoboServer). During 2005, including the Super Voting preferred, the
company directly had 21.18% of the voting control. Since it also
controlled the vote of the Super Voting Preferred, the company had 76.26% of
the
voting control. In addition, based on the information in 3 above, the
company should consolidate under FIN 46 during 2005 and beyond.
For
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005
Intangible
Assets
5.
We note your response to comment 8. You state that you evaluate the
capitalized costs quarterly to ensure that the cost of abandoned projects
are
expensed. Pursuant to paragraph 10 of SFAS 86, at each balance sheet
date you should also be comparing the unamortized capitalized costs of the
computer software products to the net realizable value of those products
and
recording the amount by which the unamortized capitalized costs exceed the
net
realizable value of the assets as an impairment expense. Please
confirm that you are performing this impairment analysis in addition to your
evaluation of abandoned products and expand your disclosure regarding this
policy in future filings.
RESPONSE:
The
company performs an impairment analysis at each filing date to determine that
the net realizable value of the products exceeds the carrying value of the
projects. The net realizable value in each case was several multiples
of the carrying value. The company will expand its disclosure to
reflect this policy in future filings.
6.
Furthermore,
we note your disclosure regarding your intangible assets on page F-9 of your
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2006. You disclose that your
intangible asset balance as of December 31, 2006 consisted of RoboServer
software costs, an non-compete agreement and goodwill related to Auction Wagon,
Auction Blvd., and Biz Auctions, and goodwill related to VoIpCOM USA. Since
Auction Wagon, Auction Blvd, and VoIPCOM USA were all acquired in 2005 also
included amounts related to these acquisitions; however, in your previous
response you represented to us that the intangible asset balance as of December
31, 2005 only included software that was developed by
RoboServer. Please explain the inconsistency in your
responses.
RESPONSE:
The
primary intangible asset amount consisted of RoboServer software
costs. However, a portion of the intangible costs did relate to
non-compete agreements, and goodwill related to Auction Wagon, Auction Blvd,
and
Biz Auction, and VoIPCOM USA. Each intangible cost was evaluated at
each reporting date to determine if impairment had occurred, and that the net
realizable value was in excess of the carrying value. Since
BizAuction and VoIPCOM USA are also “Pink Sheet” companies, the goodwill
associated to them also considers the value of a “Pink Sheet” company as well as
other goodwill elements associated with the entities.
7.
Additionally,
please tell us your basis for recording goodwill related to Auction Blvd and
VoIPCOM USA. Based on your previous responses and your disclosure, it
does not appear that Auction Blvd and VoIPCOM USA represented businesses at
the
time of acquisitions, and thus recording goodwill would not be
appropriate. Please provide us with an analysis of Auction Blvd and
VoIPCOM USA under EITF 98-3.
RESPONSE:
Auction
Blvd. did represent a business at the time of acquisition. It
possessed the necessary inputs, processes and outputs necessary to maintain
a
revenue stream. The business was not material to the
company as a whole. The goodwill, and non-compete were analyzed to
determine that the net realizable value was in excess of the carrying
value.
VOIPCOM
USA is a “Pink Sheet” company. As such, it has a value that at each
balance sheet date was in excess of the carrying value. In this case,
the input and processes came from the fact that it was a Pink sheet company
that
had a marketable value at each reporting date.
8.
We
also note on page F-9 of your 10-KSB for
the year ended December 31, 2006 that you are amortizing the RoboServer
software-related costs over 15 years. Due to the effects of
obsolescence, it does not appear that this is a reasonable useful
life. Please explain how you determined the useful life of 15
years.
RESPONSE:
RoboServer
software is for the fast food industry. It assists the end consumer
to place an order by using a computer screen instead of ordering from an
employee of the restaurant. The software has been developed in such a
way as to be able to be modified as operating systems advance. It was
determined that the software will not be obsolete within 15 years as it is
adaptable and compatible with restaurant software. Much of the
intangible costs relates to the software’s interaction with hardware
processes. It also includes design modifications that will be useful
for at least 15 years.
10-QSB
for the quarter ended June 30, 2006
Item
2
– Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of
Operations, page 4
9.
We
note your response to comment 11. Please tell us how you
determined the total purchase price of BizAuctions, Inc. and provide us with
your purchase price allocation. It appears that you have allocated a
portion of the purchase price to goodwill. Please also provide us
with an analysis of how you determined that BizAuctions, Inc. was a business
pursuant to EITF 98-3.
RESPONSE:
BizAuction,
Inc. is a “Pink Sheet” company. As such, the purchase price of
BizAuction included the value of BizAuction as a “Pink Sheet”
company. The company in a third party, arms length transaction
negotiated the original value of this element. The acquisition cost
for this element was recorded as goodwill to reflect this value. The
company evaluates this amount at each report date to determine if this amount
is
reasonable in relation to the net realizable value at the valuation
date.
10.
Please
tell us what consideration you gave to Item 310 (c) of Regulation S-B as it
relates to the financial statements of BizAuctions, Inc.
RESPONSE:
At
the
time of purchase of BizAuctions, Inc. a review of the transaction revealed
that
the impact was not material (over 20%). Therefore, additional
financial statements were not required.
11.
We
note that your revenue significantly increased for the year
ended December 31, 2006 over the year ended December 31, 2005. This
appears to be the result of the revenue earned from your eBay liquidation
services from Net2Auctions, Inc. and BizAuctions Inc. Please tell us
your revenue recognition policy for this revenue. Please address EITF
99-19 in your response.
RESPONSE:
The
company recognizes revenue as earned. For the eBay sales, revenue is
recognized as the sale is complete. Funds are collected typically
through PayPal accounts, or credit cards. Over 90% of the sales are
from items that BizAuction has purchased, therefore, the sale is recorded as
the
gross amount billed. The sales of Net2Auction are recorded
as the net amount retained as title to the inventory never passes to
Net2Auction, Net2Auction does not bear the risks and rewards of ownership,
and
simply acts as agent or broker and is compensated on a commission and fee
basis. At each report date, an analysis is made to determine
collectability, and adjusted for returns and allowances and bad debts (if
any).
Thank-you
for your help in this matter. If there are any questions regarding
the above responses, please contact me at the office at (702)
214-4249.
| Sincerely, |
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| AMERIRESOURCE
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Delmar Janovec |
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| Delmar
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| President |
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| DAJ:
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