Independent Auditors Quit Wiz in Accounting Dispute

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Wiz Technology Inc. said Friday that its independent auditors resigned earlier in the week in a dispute over accounting issues.

As a result of the dispute, Wiz Technology has not released financial results for its third quarter that ended April 30 and the stock has not traded on the American Stock Exchange since June 21.

The company, which markets education, business and game software, said it has retained Coopers & Lybrand’s Newport Beach office to replace auditors Corbin & Wertz, Irvine.

“There were differences in opinion over the capitalization of certain expenses for the third quarter,” said Horace Hertz, a partner of Corbin & Wertz.

Accounting discrepancies arose from the introduction of a new CD-ROM package, the 4-year-old company’s first internally developed product.

Although Wiz Technology recorded losses earlier this year, the software marketer remains optimistic about future growth.

“We are looking to put this all behind us and I am hopeful we can begin trading after the holiday,” said Mar-Jeanne Tendler, the company’s chairman and chief executive. “This has been a detour, but not a detour in sales.”

Tendler said the company has received a $150,000 order from an Australian distributor and a new contract with a 130-store book retailer, whom she declined to name.

Wiz Technology lost $502,518 on revenue of $543,003 in the second quarter ended Jan. 31. In the first six months, losses totaled $451,805 on revenue of $1.5 million.