Point of sale finance company ThinkSmart cited a change in its accounting policy as the main reason for a loss in the year to December. Yesterday, the company reported a loss of A$1.4 million for the year, compared with a net profit of $6.8 million in 2011.The company has switched to lease-accounting, which means that revenue is reported as it accrues, rather than at the time of origination. The negative impact was felt in the first half of the year; the company returned to profit in the second half.But earnings also took a hit as a result of weak retail conditions in Australia. New originations in Australia were down by 13 per cent.The result in Australia would have been worse, expect for the strong performance of Fido, a new payment plan product. The core local business, RentSmart, was down 29 per cent. Deep discounting by retailers contributed to a reduction in both the volume of rental transactions and the average value of each transaction.The highlight was the United Kingdom business, where originations were up 58 per cent. Overall, originations were up 15 per cent.