The Financial Numbers Game: Detecting Creative Accounting Practices

Table of Contents:
1 Financial Numbers Game 1 Rewards of the Game 2 Classifying Creative Accounting Practices 8 Plan of This Book 13 Summary 14 Glossary 15 Notes 16 2 How the Game Is Played 19 Accounting Policy Choice and Application 19 Fraudulent Financial Reporting 39 Cleaning Up after the Game 44 Clarifying Terminology 49 Summary 50 Glossary 50 Notes 52 3 Earnings Management: A Closer Look 57 What Is Earnings Management? 58 Incentives and Conditions for Earnings Management 60 Earnings Management Techniques 62 Evidence of Earnings Management 68 Effectiveness of Earnings Management 74 Is Earnings Management Good or Bad? 82 Summary 84 Glossary 86 Notes 88 4 The SEC Responds 93 The Chairman’s Speech 93 The Action Plan 96 Subsequent Developments 99 Enforcing the Securities Laws 108 Summary 120 Glossary 122 Notes 123 5 Financial Professionals Speak Out 127 Survey of Financial Professionals 129 Survey Results 133 Summary 156 Glossary 157 Notes 158 6 Recognizing Premature or Fictitious Revenue 159 Is It Premature or Fictitious Revenue? 160 When Should Revenue Be Recognized? 165 Detecting Premature or Fictitious Revenue 185 Checklist to Detect Premature or Fictitious Revenue 191 Summary 193 Glossary 194 Notes 196 7 Aggressive Capitalization and Extended Amortization Policies 201 Cost Capitalization 202 Detecting Aggressive Cost Capitalization Policies 214 Amortizing Capitalized Costs 220 Detecting Extended Amortization Periods 226 Checklist to Detect Aggressive Capitalization and Extended Amortization Policies 229 Summary 231 Glossary 231 Notes 233 8 Misreported Assets and Liabilities 237 Link with Reported Earnings 238 Boosting Shareholders’ Equity 239 Overvalued Assets 240 Undervalued Liabilities 259 Checklist to Detect Misreported Assets and Liabilities 268 Summary 271 Glossary 272 Notes 275 9 Getting Creative with the Income Statement: Classification and Disclosure 279 Current Income Statement Requirements and Practices 280 Reporting Comprehensive Income 292 Creative Income Statement Classifications 295 Creativity with Other Aspects of the Income Statement 304 Summary 311 Glossary 312 Notes 313 10 Getting Creative with the Income Statement: Pro-Forma Measures of Earnings 317 Recasting the Bottom Line: Pro-Forma Earnings Measures 318 Summary 339 Glossary 340 Notes 341 11 Problems with Cash Flow Reporting 345 Reporting Cash Flow 347 Problems with Reported Operating Cash Flow 354 Using Operating Cash Flow to Detect Creative Accounting Practices 370 Checklist for Using Operating Cash Flow to Detect Creative Accounting Practices 373 Summary 373 Glossary 375 Notes 377 Subject Index 379 Company Index 391

About the Author :
CHARLES W. MULFORD is Invesco Chair and Professor of Accounting and EUGENE E. COMISKEY is Callaway Chair and Professor of Accounting in the DuPree College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.