What's going on?

French tech company Atos announced on Thursday that auditors had found two teensy-weensy accounting errors � and its stock price plummeted.

What does this mean?

Accountants regularly check a company�s financial statements to make sure it isn�t misleading investors. Most of the time everything is perfectly fine, but at Atos they uncovered a nasty surprise. There were several mistakes relating to how two of Atos�s US units � which together contributed 11% of the company�s total sales last year � reported revenue from customers.

While this wasn�t quite the $2 billion black hole auditors discovered at payments processor Wirecard last year, and Atos was quick to point out the errors weren�t �material�, the damage had already been done. Investors understandably hate any uncertainty around the trustworthiness of a company�s numbers: they sent Atos�s shares down 12%.

Why should I care?

For markets: Accounting errors = potential bubble trouble.�

A few shoddy figures could herald bigger problems for investors: recent analysis from investment bank Goldman Sachs suggests that accounting scandals have historically been a sign of market bubbles a-brewing (tweet this). Still, it may be a little too soon to sound the alarm and break out the pitchforks: Goldman admits scandals can emerge at any time, and there isn�t yet enough evidence across eight other bubble indicators to show stocks are in imminent danger.

The bigger picture: Everyone�s making deals but Atos.�

Atos�s shares had already been trending down since talks to buy US rival DXC Technology collapsed in February. Combined, the company could�ve become a cloud and consulting giant better able to compete with the likes of SAP and Accenture. Investors, however, thought it was too much for the deal-hungry company to take on. What may now be rubbing salt in Atos�s wounds is the fact that acquisition activity among other companies climbed to a two-decade high last quarter.