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Topic: Creative accounting

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	Creative accounting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Creative accounting and earnings management are euphemisms referring to accounting practices that deviate from standard accounting practices.
		One of the main genres of "creative accounting" is known as slush fund accounting, whereby some earnings from this quarter are hidden away just in case the profit from next quarter is not enough for the management to make their bonuses.
		Creative accounting is not limited to large firms with banks of accountants.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Creative_accounting (1148 words)

	Accounting scandals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations.
		In public companies, this type of "creative accounting" can amount to fraud and investigations are typically launched by government oversight agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States.
		More radical means of accounting reform have been proposed but so far have very little support.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Accounting_scandals (647 words)

	Creative Accounting
		Creativity versus complicity Creative accounting affects the value of assets and liabilities, and also the allocation of changes to assets/liabilities or profit/loss.
		However a typical feature of creative accountancy is that it is to a greater or lesser extent hidden and is often result of sustained poor performance.
		Engaging in creative accounting is then a possible first step towards pushing at the boundaries of the law.
	www.studyworld.com /newsite/ReportEssay/Science/Technical/Creative_Accounting-32240.htm (826 words)

	The Malta Financial&Business Times (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		On the contrary, we needed to clean up the accounts in accordance with old-established accounting principles which, inter alia, honoured conservatism in asset valuations, distinguishing between profits made (on revaluation) and profits realised (on their eventual sale or disposal).
		That explains why I had vehemently resisted the spread of ‘creative’ accounting when discussing the issue when at Malta Development Corporation years earlier - a number of manufacturing units were seeing the end of their ten-year tax holiday.
		I would in fact go as far as to state that if the world accounting body had put its foot firmly down when creative accounting was spreading, especially with multinationals, instead of succumbing to its call for some sort of recognition, the international community might possibly have been spared some of the scandals.
	www.businesstimes.com.mt /2005/07/27/opinion2.html (938 words)

	Creative Accounting Articles
		Accounting for accounting: Towards the development of a dialectical view.
		Littrell, E. Creative accounting: The perils of Perini.
		Accounting systems and systems of accountability - Understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts.
	www.maaw.info /CreativeAccountingArticles.htm (2781 words)

	Creative Accounting
		Since welfare account funds would have tax benefits relative to ordinary savings, individuals may choose to save more in their welfare accounts than the mandatory minimum.
		The longer people remained unemployed, the lower would be their unemployment account balances and consequently the smaller the funds available to them later on.
		Welfare accounts would give people more freedom to meet their diverse individual needs, to respond to changing job opportunities, to finance periods of job search, to acquire skills and to provide for retirement.
	www.cepr.org /pubs/EEP/articles/creative.htm (1222 words)

	Real Accounting Fraud - Mises Institute (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		New accounting industry and corporate financial reporting rules are being imposed with reckless abandon in Washington, D.C. Yet the political class that seeks to grant itself sweeping new power over the private sector lacks even a basic understanding of business.
		Their accounting information would be more accurate, but it would be useless to outsiders.
		The "matching principle" of accounting says that expenses should be recognized in the period when the revenue they generate is recognized, unless the expenses cannot be reasonably estimated yet.
	www.mises.org /fullstory.aspx?control=1012 (1300 words)

	Global-Investor Bookshop : Creative Accounting: The Effectiveness of Financial Reporting in the UK by Trevor Pijper
		Description of Creative Accounting: The Effectiveness of Financial Reporting in the UK Since the inception of the Financial Reporting Council in May 1990, the Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Reporting Review Panel have featured prominently in the financial press.
		Creative Accounting questions whether the new regime is likely to improve financial reporting practices in the United Kingdom.
		« Creative Accounting and the Cross-Eyed Javelin Thrower
	books.global-investor.com /books/9790.htm?ginPtrCode=00000&identifier= (422 words)

	MaxSpeak, You Listen!: CREATIVE ACCOUNTING!
		As we predicted here, the Bushies provide further signs that they are going to jump up the Federal deficit to finance their hare-brained scheme for private accounts to replace Social Security.
		The fraud here is founded on the tale of the so-called "unfunded liability" in Social Security -- the present value of benefits minus Trust Fund receipts (primarily payroll taxes), from here to eternity (as Bernie Wasow of the Century Fund put it).
		The balances in the accounts grow and eventually finance benefits to those future beneficiaries, replacing benefits otherwise paid by Social Security.
	maxspeak.org /mt/archives/000948.html (449 words)

	Use cash flow to detect creative accounting
		Channel stuffing increases accounts receivable (monies owed by customers) levels since customers are taking longer to pay.
		Recent academic research found that you could detect these accounting tricks by simply comparing net income to operating cash flow, instead of digging into the details.
		Accounts receivables could increase because customers don’t have the cash to pay.
	www.winninginvesting.com /spot_red_flags_easier.htm (765 words)

	The Ethics Of Creative Accounting: Some Spanish Evidence (ResearchIndex)
		Abstract: `Creative accounting' involves accountants in making accounting policy choices or manipulating transactions in such a way as to give the impression in the accounts that they prefer.
		While regarded as unethical by most observers, a defence of creative accounting can be based on the ability of the users of accounts to identify bias in accounting policy choices and make appropriate adjustments.
		1 The discourse of inflation accounting, on the interrelations..
	citeseer.ist.psu.edu /300331.html (485 words)

	MSN Money - 3 'creative accounting' red flags for investors (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Accounts receivables are the monies owed to a company by its customers for goods received.
		Only the last one reflects creative accounting, but all of these circumstances signal problems that add risk of future earnings shortfalls.
		But in fact, thanks to the magic of accounting, many companies that report positive net income are actually losing money when you count the cash.
	moneycentral.msn.com /content/Investing/Simplestrategies/P82399.asp (1501 words)

	Companies and Creative Accounting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Creative accounting, messing or fooling around with the numbers, the fact of the matter is that this "math" has taken a place on business accounting.
		The dot-com bubble itself was fueled and failed by creative accounting.
		Many companies are getting busy with their creative accounting procedures and scenarios and add a significant paper boost to their gross profit margins.
	www.greekshares.com /creative.asp (239 words)

	[No title]
		Founded in 1979, Creative Solutions is a leading provider of integrated software to tax and accounting professionals.
		Creative Solutions offers a comprehensive line of integrated write-up, payroll, client accounting, depreciation, tax, tax planning and practice management software for practicing accountants.
		Creative Solutions strives to improve the productivity and profitability of practicing accountants by utilizing relevant technology and the specialized knowledge of our staff; to provide software and services of unique value and high quality to our customers; and, to service all our customers with integrity and fairness with a view toward a long-term relationship.
	www.findaccountingsoftware.com /software/developer.aspx?id=9 (201 words)

	Creative Accounting Only Goes So Far
		The main reason for this is that the federal government uses cash accounting rather than accrual accounting.
		This takes account of the fact that $1 fifty years from now is worth much less than $1 today.
		Creative accounting can only go so far in covering up transactions that are fundamentally unsound.
	www.papillonsartpalace.com /creaative.htm (752 words)

	Creative Jewish Accounting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		In both cases, creative accounting hid from investors the companies’ dire financial straits, even as their stocks continued to be highly touted.
		Such creative accounting, however, is by no means limited to greedy executives.
		The Reform movement’s adoption of patrilineal descent, for instance, was essentially an accounting trick that turned failure (i.e., intermarriage) into success by increasing the number of Reform Jews and allowing the movement to claim that it is the fastest growing denomination.
	www.tzemachdovid.org /amechad/accounting.shtml (1176 words)

	Creative Accounting: Prevention and Detection (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		According to The Financial Numbers Game, creative accounting practices -- a term the authors chose to encompass any and all steps used to play the financial numbers game (see table) -- may be employed in exchange for a variety of expected rewards.
		Charles Mulford, co-author of The Financial Numbers Game, says "the accounting model isn't broken, financial reporting just needs some tweaks." In the meantime, investors must educate themselves about how to detect creative accounting, and professionals such as accountants and managers need to know how to prevent it from happening in their firms.
		There are various ways to detect creative accounting -- all of which are outlined in the book -- but Mulford provides a simple rule to apply when examining financial statements.
	accounting.smartpros.com /x33125.xml (638 words)

	Wiley::Creative Accounting & the Cross-Eyed Javelin Thrower
		Creative accounting, as highlighted in the best selling books of Terry Smith and Ian Griffiths, was one of the key themes in corporate finance in the 1980s.
		The control of creative accounting has been a major issue of the 1990s.
		The book is about the contest for the control of creative accounting, a contest in which Sir David Tweedie describes the Financial Reporting Review Panel as 'like a cross-eyed javelin thrower at the Olympic Games'.
	eu.wiley.com /WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471988359.html (202 words)

	Creative Accounting
		I'd say it was a job for professionals except that MicroStrategy's and Enron's accounts were all signed off by their auditors, people like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen (whose employees, according to this morning's Independent, destroyed a few relevant documents).
		Accounting standards are now confusing enough that it seems likely we'll be seeing a few more of these scandals over the coming months.
		Are earnings are generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), operating earnings, or the pro- forma earnings beloved of high-tech companies, especially those who can turn losses into profits by excluding lots of expenses?
	www.theinquirer.net /?article=2186 (965 words)

	Creative Accounting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		So low is the accountant's standing among so-called creative people that creative accounting is considered a crime.
		In their paper, "The Ethics of Creative Accounting," authors Oriol Amat, John Blake, and Jack Dowds define creative accounting as, "a process whereby accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules to manipulate the figures reported in the accounts of a business." A strict application of this definition makes no moral judgment about creativity in accounting.
		As in every other creative pursuit, crime and creativity stand independent of each other.
	www.gocreate.com /Workouts/wx036.htm (283 words)

	Education Next: Creative accounting: measuring the true cost of K-12 education
		For instance, if a city grants the school system use of a vacant government building, the cost of inhabiting the building is frequently not charged to the schools.
		But a proper measure of costs would account for the opportunity cost of the city government's allowing use of a building for free when it could have rented it out, earning significant revenue for the space.
		Since virtually the entire private business sector and most public and private institutions of higher education have moved to defined contribution systems (such as private-sector 401k plans) for their professional employees, the defined benefit plans offered by public school districts seem like a very expensive anachronism.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m0MJG/is_3_4/ai_n6143592 (798 words)

	Dummies::Detecting Creative Revenue Accounting
		You can get to the bottom of many of the common creative accounting tactics by carefully reading and analyzing the financial reports, but you'll have to play detective and crunch some numbers.
		For example, if the balance in accounts receivable increases by 10 percent and net revenues increase by 25 percent, that may be a sign of game-playing.
		If you see major differences from accounting period to accounting period or between similar companies, it may be a sign of a problem.
	www.dummies.com /WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2842.html (1110 words)

	Creative Accounting: Nature, Incidence and Ethical Issues
		This paper explores the nature and incidence of creative accounting practices within the context of ethical considerations.It explores several definitions of creative accounting and the potential and the range of reasons for a company's directors to engage in creative accounting.
		Later the paper considers the various ways in which creative accounting can be undertaken and summarizes some empirical research on the nature and incidence of creative accounting.
		The ethical dimension of creative accounting is discussed, drawing evidence from several empirical studies.
	ideas.repec.org /p/upf/upfgen/749.html (265 words)

	IBM Shows Its Age
		By contrast, the accounting for a defined benefit plan - the type employed by IBM and many old industrial companies - is complicated.
		According to a report by Credit Suisse First Boston accounting analyst Jane Adams, IBM reported annual revenue growth of 7.2 percent in 1999 and 1 percent in 2000.
		IBM is unusual among tech companies in doing such accounting, as most others are too young to have richly funded pension plans.
	www.thestandard.com /article/0,1902,28116,00.html?nl=int (676 words)

	Bob Jensen's Threads on Accounting Tricks and Creative Accounting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		A company that was ultraconservative in its accounting would get an A, while one that arguably complied with GAAP but used aggressive accounting tricks would receive a D. "Companies would then be under pressure to not just make their numbers but also get the highest-quality ratings,'' Vickrey says.
		Critical accounting policies - one part is a focus on the estimates made in the financial statements.
		Restatement of accounting policies is not the purpose of the disclosure.
	www.trinity.edu /rjensen/theory/00overview/AccountingTricks.htm (7309 words)

	Creative Accounting and Financial Disclosure
		Today’s news is rift with case after case of mis-reporting of financial results.
		Many were a direct result of financial managers taking advantage of "loop holes" in today’s accounting standards.
		Hedge Accounting and its Contribution to Creative Accounting
	www.euromatech.com /seminars05/fi410.htm (349 words)

	Global-Investor Bookshop : The Financial Numbers Game: Detecting Creative Accounting Practices by Eugene Comiskey (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		It is vitally important that investors, analysts, and other users of financial statements detect these creative accounting practices as early as possible in order to avoid negative earnings surprises and potential share-price declines.
		The role of the SEC in enforcing securities laws is explored, as are the specific statutes the SEC uses to prosecute those it deems to have gone too far.
		The authors present the results of a survey of important financial professionals on their views of the propriety of many financial reporting practices and on the steps they use to detect creative accounting practices.
	books.global-investor.com /books/14894.htm?ginPtrCode=20032 (518 words)

	BBC NEWS \| UK \| MP alleges royal 'jiggery-pokery'
		The comments came as the National Audit Office was denied access to the Duchy of Cornwall accounts.
		It is the first time the Commons Public Accounts Committee has been able to scrutinise the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster's accounts.
		Edward Leigh, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, described the meeting as an historic occasion.
	news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/uk/4242213.stm (554 words)

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