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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Creative Accounting Does not Need to Equal Falsification of Accounts
Author(s)
Ryszard Kamiński
Full-Text PDF
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DOI:10.17265/2328-7144/2014.04.006
Affiliation(s)
Ryszard Kamiński, Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Law and Administration, Adam Mickiewicz University, PL 61-809 Poznań, ul .Św. Marcin 90, Poland.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to present different aspects of creativity in accounting. Firstly, since creative accounting allows to present a company’s financial condition in a more favourable light, the “advantages” of this creativity are identified. This is followed by the enumeration of negative aspects of creative accounting, to illustrate how creativity in accounting may help to falsify the true picture of a company’s business. Next, the concept of creative accounting and aggressive accounting (the latter, identified rightly, with a financial and accounting fraud) is explained. Finally, methods that are commonly used to falsify accounts, as well as the premises for and the circumstances in which such criminal practices occur, are presented. The paper draws on the results of other scientific works (books and articles published in scientific journals) in which the main and most interesting views of other authors have been presented. A critical analysis method was employed, followed by a comparison of legal texts and legal acts. The scientific conclusion was conducted using the deduction, and, partially, the induction method. It has been shown that it is justified to differentiate in accounting between creativity that is allowable within the established legal limits and practice based upon the use of creativity in a manner contrary to law. Further, it has been concluded that where creativity in accounting goes beyond the limits unambiguously established by the law, it definitely carries attributes of an offence. It has been also noted that due to continuous changes in the functioning conditions of enterprises, the above mentioned limits cannot be fixed or rigid. Thus it is necessary to control and analyse the creativity of accounting and financial staff working in enterprises in order to adapt the binding regulations to the needs of current markets.
KEYWORDS
accounting policy, creative accounting, aggressive accounting, financial reports, financial and accounting fraud
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References
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