Indeed, it is possible for the basis to change sign several times during the life of a contract.

Over the life of a contract, your monthly expenses will add up to more than the price of the phone.

After all, over the life of a contract, you will spend far more on the plan's monthly charges than on the phone itself.

Accounting guidelines do allow companies to spread out some customer-acquisition costs over the life of a contract.

That includes signing bonuses, which are prorated over the life of a contract, and the first-year salary.

This is also a transparent process in managing the life of a contract, creating efficiencies for all parties and helps to ensure continuous improvement.

Hillman also favored "constructive cooperation" with employers, relying on arbitration rather than strikes to resolve disputes during the life of a contract.

Larry Gerbrandt, a media analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, said each subscriber represented $4,000 to $6,000 of potential revenue over the life of a contract.

This will be done through the adoption of e-tools which will assess performance and benchmark activities throughout the life of a contract (from sourcing to exit management).

The V+ set-top box is technically on lease, still owned by Virgin Media, who provide technical support for it free of charge if a problem occurs for the life of a contract.

At Kmart, the vendor allowances were recorded immediately as a reduction of expenses, and in many cases before products were sold, instead of being recorded gradually over the life of a contract, typically a full year.

For example, the total compensation over the life of a contract might be no greater than it would have been through a series of limited raises, but would simply be distributed differently, with progressively larger payments in later years.

Dennis Rivera, president of the union, Local 1199 of the Hospital and Health Care Workers, said the contract was the country's largest multi-employer bargaining agreement that guarantees jobs over the life of a contract.

The problem, which the Government Accountability Office examined in 2003, is that federal regulations allow a company to be considered a small business for the life of a contract - and that can be as long as 20 years.

"Things change, and there are a lot of things that change over the life of a contract," said Lois Gerber Finberg, president of the Harmon Cove I Homeowners Association in Secaucus.

But the company said its new pro forma, pro rata method of reporting results, under which it books revenues a little at a time over the life of a contract, was a more accurate way to measure its results.

Accord at Phone Companies Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell agreed last fall not to lay off any of their 67,000 workers during the three-year life of a contract with the Communications Workers of America.

Investors should be given guarantees that their legal and financial interests will be safeguarded for the life of a contract and also that the terms and conditions of public tenders will remain unchanged during their period of applicability.

The study also said that some rental companies charge as much as $5 a day for listing additional drivers on a rental contract; state law limits the charge to $2.50 a day, with a maximum of $5 for the life of a contract.