Basis Of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Basis Of Presentation [Abstract]

Basis Of Presentation

1.           BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("generally accepted accounting principles" or "GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of actual results achieved for full fiscal years.  The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2010 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.  For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 for Credit Acceptance Corporation (the "Company", "Credit Acceptance", "we", "our" or "us").

Certain amounts for prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.  We have changed the presentation of our consolidated statement of cash flows to present depreciation and amortization as separate operating activities.  Under our previous presentation, depreciation and amortization were presented as a combined operating activity.  We have also changed the presentation of our consolidated statement of cash flows to present advances to Dealer-Partners (as defined in Note 2) and accelerated payments of Dealer Holdback (as defined in Note 2) as separate investing activities.  Under our previous presentation, advances to Dealer-Partners and accelerated payments of Dealer Holdback were presented as a combined investing activity.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.

We have evaluated events and transactions occurring subsequent to the consolidated balance sheet date of September 30, 2011 for items that could potentially be recognized or disclosed in these financial statements.  For additional information regarding subsequent events, see Note 13 of these consolidated financial statements.