Financial Shenanigans is
must reading for every investor who desires to avoid financial losses created by the mine
fields associated with generally accepted accounting principles.
Thornton L. Oglove, Publisher, Quality of Earnings Report
Deftly guides analysts
through the obstacle course which financial statements can present. Financial statement
users will find that study of the many examples and case studies presented in this work
will greatly aid their financial task.
Leopold A. Bernstein, Author, Financial Statement Analysis: Theory, Analysis, and
Interpretation
Indispensable to investors
who are so often victimized by cooked books, as well as those attorneys, forensic
accountants, and government regulators whose work involved the discovery and pursuit of
financial statement fraud.
William S. Lerach, Partner, Milberg Weiss Bershad Specthrie & Lerach
Financial Shenanigans, 2nd
Edition, helps you fight fire with fire, giving you the state-of-the-art weapons you need
to identify warnings of a companys problems before earnings come out and the damage
becomes irreversible. Detailing the seven fundamental tricks that companies have
used to fool auditors and investors for decades, yet providing updated information and
techniques on how these shenanigans are being used in todays technologically advanced,
financially savvy investment world, this fast-paced book provides updated explanations of
how anyone can uncover and sidestep:
Revenue tricks - Side
agreements lacking economic substance, investment income listed as revenue, release of
revenue improperly held back before a merger, and more
Expense traps -
Shifting of current expenses to an earlier period, costs amortized too slowly, impaired
assets not written down, and others
Liability scams
Failure to record expenses and their related obligations, creation of sham rebates,
reducing liabilities by changing accounting assumptions, and more.
Also included in this
one-of-a-kind primer are recommendations of oversight committees charged with
investigating questionable financial practices. Insights are provided into historys most
well-known and financially devastating frauds including the all-too-familiar warning
signs behind this decades massive Enron debacle. Numerous checklists, graphs, tables, and
an accounting tutorial appendix make in-depth explanations both clear and accessible, even
for those with little or no background in accounting or financial analysis.
Though much has changed in
todays business world, dishonest company executives will still stretch and even hide the
truth in their search for faster revenue growth, attractive balance sheets, and higher
stock prices. Financial Shenanigans digs deep into both the age-old psychology and
up-to-the-minute tactics of corporate greed, and provides a step-by-step procedure for
looking into a companys black-and-white financials to protect your investmentwhile you
still have an investment to protect.
Howard M. Schilit, Ph.D.,
CPA, is president of the Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA), a leading
independent financial research organization, and is one of todays leading authorities on
detecting accounting gimmicks. Dr. Schilit, a former professor at American University, has
been quoted or featured in numerous business publications including The Wall Street
Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, and The New York Times, and has
appeared on CNBC, CNN, and other networks. He is also the coauthor of Blue Chips and
Hot Tips.
240 pages