Never let it be said accountancy isn't amazing. Merely tweak the rules, and -- bingo -- Motorola suddenly finds itself $99 million richer. Back at the beginning of October, the phones-to-processors giant posted Q3 1998 results containing a write-off covering in-process R&D relating to its purchase of Starfish Software. Then the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) changed the rules outlining how such write-offs must be handled, allowing Motorola to now report its windfall. The upshot of which is that Motorla made $27 million in Q3 instead of losing $42 million. ®