"In this book Ignacio de la Torre explains the reasons why some companies choose to influence their figures and how they do so, often by bending the rules rather than breaking them - anticipating or increasing income, reducing or delaying the recognition of expenses and shifting away debts or losses. He also shows us how to spot such tricks and correctly interpret financial reports." "Written in a clear and enjoyable style, the wealth of international case studies from companies such as Repsol, L'Oreal, Vivendi, Universal and Vodafone and public bodies such as the Greek government and the European Union, and the subsequent detail of analysis, make this book appealing reading for all professionals of the accounting world as well as those who simply want to know the truth behind the headlines."--BOOK JACKET.

Business scandals are always with us from the South Sea Bubble to Enron and Parmalat. As accounting forms a central element of any business success or failure, the role of accounting is crucial in understanding business scandals. This book aims to explore the role of accounting, particularly creative accounting and fraud, in business scandals. The book is divided into three parts. In Part A the background and context of creative accounting and fraud is explored. Part B looks at a series of international accounting scandals and Part C draws some themes and implications from the country studies.

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. Do financial statements contain useful information? Is the new profit and loss account a reliable measure of financial performance? What significance should be attached to the balance sheet and the gearing ratio? Are UK companies guilty of using financial techniques to improve their reported results? Does the stock market pay any attention to company financial statements? Is there such a thing as creative accounting? What is the role of the auditor? Will the recommendations of the Cadbury Committee help to restore public confidence in financial reporting? In addressing these issues, Creative Accounting highlights the complexities and limitations of company financial statements. It is essential reading for all users of these statements.

The fourth edition of Accounting: Understanding and Practice by Danny Leiwy and Robert Perks has been fully revised throughout and updated in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards. Ample practice illustrations and examples help present the subject in relation to a business world to which readers can easily relate.

The first book to provide an integrated treatment of financial and operating strategies to exchange rate variability. The choice of price-setting currency, when and how to adjust prices, the limitations of hedging and segmentation of national markets are some of the issues analyzed. The book investigates the impact of EMU.

Ethical Issues in Accounting offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction for students and teachers of business studies and accountancy as well as the practicing accountant. The book covers the ethical implications of several aspects of accounting: * ethics and taxation * creative accounting * ethics in accounting regulation * ethical dilemmas in the public sector * whistleblowing * various aspects of social accounting, including environmental accounting. The fitness of the accounting profession as guardians of accounting and auditing ethics is also discussed in detail.

In the late 1980s, financial accounting in Britain was in disarray. ‘Creative’ accounting was rife. The authority of the industry’s standard-setters had been drastically compromised when their rules for inflation accounting were first ignored by many firms and then abandoned. There were calls for government to replace the accountants’ self-regulation with a tough regulatory regime close to the American model. Also, rapid change in the financial industry was generating complex new financial schemes for which existing accounting standards were inadequate. This book tells the story of the next decade: the problems the standard-setters faced, both technical and political, the resistance they met, the solutions they developed, and the durability of their work. Innovations they developed have become part of global accounting standards. The story is told in the words of three board members, all of whom had spent their careers in accounting, one as a senior technical partner of a Big 4 audit firm, one as an executive in major multinational businesses, one as a university professor: respectively, the Chairman, Sir David Tweedie; the Technical Director, Allan Cook; and the academic board member, Professor Geoffrey Whittington. The medium is for the most part conversation, with the standard-setters questioned by Cambridge Professor Geoff Meeks, recorded over three years producing a more vivid picture of motivations and events. Also, in this technically demanding subject, it has the advantage of a simpler, more informal, and engaging conversational style and language. The book will appeal not just to accountants interested in the origins of the rules they are following and students learning why those rules were adopted, but also to anyone interested in how, in spheres beyond accounting, to harness the expertise and support of business regulatees without suffering regulatory capture.

This practical book shows how to deal with the complicated area of accounting of financial instruments. Containing a huge number of sophisticated worked examples, the book treats this complex subject in a way that gives clear guidance on the subject. In an introductory, controversial overview of the subject, the book highlights the mistakes that both auditing firms and the accounting standard setters are making, and demonstrates the contribution the International Financial Reporting Standards have made to the current credit crisis.

The Mysteries of Investing Revealed is a book about investing in common stocks and related securities. The objective of the book is to educate the small investor so that he is able to achieve adequate returns to meet retirement needs and all other needs.

This is an accessible book that delineates how progressives and the progressive movement have created the American idea and ideals and forged the kind of country in which we want to live. It creates a platform from which to argue how progressives today are fighting to improve America, in contrast to how conservatives have always worked to defend the interests of elites. Each chapter will tell the reader a story focusing on different subjects, such as efforts to enact civil rights laws, social security, the middle class, how the idea of America changed the world, and why most of us can vote. Lux points out what he feels the Democrats have done wrong during the last decades and how the lessons of history can point to making positives changes. Lux shows how the progressives have been instrumental in creating big positive change moments, and argues that as a new administration takes office in 2009 the time will be ripe for a new big change moment,. He outlines how he believes progressive policies can be channeled to solves the big problems facing us today.