Synopses & Reviews
On the heels of the Enron trial, there are lessons to be learned from the barrage of fraud hammering corporate America-including how to spot signs of future scams. In a gripping read, BUSINESS FAIRY TALES uses real-world scandals to illustrate the top-twenty methods used by companies to falsely overstate earnings and hide debt. It explains each accounting trick with the story of a company and the officials responsible for the fictitious financial reporting. It goes behind the scenes to describe the deception and examine the character failures of the leaders. The book also presents a compelling argument for the kind of reform needed, as well as the ethics that must support true reform. Ultimately, it equips and empowers readers with the skills to spot signs of potential accounting fraud. The book provides specific, tell-tale signals of the top twenty financial-reporting schemes-signals that are inevitably left behind in false financial statements. "Jackson walks the reader through the various ways unsuspecting investors can be led down the garden path through accounting tricks. Jackson has a knack for bringing complicated financial concepts like goodwill down to earth, and for demonstrating how they can be used to inflate earnings." Barron's Magazine, Sep. 25, 2006. "The 'fairy tales' of the title are the companies' financial reporting, which is described in what reads like a series of horror stories. The Grimm-style moral is obvious, but author Cecil W. Jackson goes further, equipping the reader with the skills to spot the 20 most common forms of corporate impropriety, and hopefully avoid this kind of nightmare in the future." Accounting Today, Oct. 2, 2006. "There are many more lessons in this book. They are based on real cases, and the author does an excellent job in providing ways to detect possible mischief. And, as a book that can help me avoid trouble with my investment picks, it's certainly a bargain." Tom Taulli, The Motley Fool, Oct. 31, 2006.
Review
"Jackson walks the reader through the various ways unsuspecting investors can be led down the garden path through accounting tricks...Jackson has a knack for bringing complicated financial concepts like goodwill down to earth, and for demonstrating how they can be used to inflate earnings." Barron's Magazine, Sept. 25, 2006
Review
"The author, a consummate story teller, in this aptly titled book describes fairy tales that have turned into nightmares. I found the background information on the fraud perpetrators, their companies, and the culture very interesting. This book is a must read for accounting students, auditors, regulators, and investors, for its clear presentation on how we all can make sure these fairy tales don?t happen again."
Review
"Jackson?s ?Top Twenty Methods of Fictitious Financial Reporting? and his graphic yet entertaining illustration of each scheme is invaluable reading for audit committees, investors and employees wanting to avoid similar calamities. One of the key messages ? trust but verify through careful analysis. Jackson reveals signals contained in financial statements and elsewhere that should prompt such deeper scrutiny."
Review
"Business Fairy Tales is a "nifty new book..." Jackson walks the reader through the various ways unsuspecting investors can be led down the garden path through accounting tricks." "Jackson has a knack for bringing complicated financial concepts like goodwill down to earth, and for demonstrating how they can be used to inflate earnings."
Review
"...there are some important lessons for today's investors."
"What can investors focus on? Jackson says that you need to be wary if goodwill is increasing much faster than earnings. This may be a sign that the company's fundamentals are deteriorating and that there are accounting games with the financial statements."
Review
"There are many more lessons in this book. They are based on real cases, and the author does an excellent job in providing ways to detect possible mischief. And, as a book that can help me avoid trouble with my investment picks, it's certainly a bargain." Tom Taulli, The Motley Fool, Oct. 31, 2006
Review
"The 'fairy tales' of the title are the companies' financial reporting, which is described in what reads like a series of horror stories. The Grimm-style moral is obvious, but author Cecil W. Jackson goes further, equipping the reader with the skills to spot the 20 most common forms of corporate impropriety, and hopefully avoid this kind of nightmare in the future." Accounting Today, Oct. 2, 2006
Synopsis
On the heels of the Bernard Ebbers conviction, executives are beginning to realize that there are many lessons to be learned from the barrage of fraud hammering corporate America? including how to spot signs of future impropriety. In a gripping, intriguing read, Business Fairy Tales uses real-world scandals to illustrate the seven most common frauds. It explains each fraud with a detailed, engaging story of the company and its officials that committed the most spectacular incident of that kind of financial reporting fraud. It goes behind the scenes to describe the organization's acts of deception to the public, as well as the character failures of the leaders. In addition to the specific cases, the book presents a compelling argument for the kind of reform that is needed within the industry. Ultimately, it equips and empowers readers with the skills to spot potential signs of fraud in financial statements so that they can be forewarned of future financial shocks. An appendix presents a list of publicly traded companies whose financial statements contain signals that may indicate an overstatement of assets or profits or an understatement of liabilities.
Synopsis
On the heels of the Enron trial, there are many lessons to be learned from the barrage of fraud hammering corporate America -- including how to spot signs of future impropriety. In a gripping and intriguing read, BUSINESS FAIRY TALES uses real-world scandals to illustrate the top twenty most common methods used by companies to fraudulently overstate their earnings and hide their debt. Based on an analysis of the frequency of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions, it identifies the twenty most prevalent accounting schemes. The book explains each accounting trick with a detailed, engaging story of a company and the officials who committed a spectacular version of that method of fictitious financial reporting. It goes behind the scenes to describe the organization's acts of deception, and to examine the character failures of the leaders. In addition to the specific cases, the book presents a compelling argument for the kind of reform that is needed, as well as the ethical frameworks that must support authentic reform. Ultimately, BUSINESS FAIRY TALES equips and empowers readers with the skills to spot signs of potential accounting fraud so that investors and employees can be forewarned of future financial shocks. It provides analysts and students with the specific, tell-tale signals of the top twenty financial-reporting frauds and schemes -- signals that are inevitably left behind in financial statements that have been manipulated.
About the Author
Dr. Cecil W. Jackson, CPA, is a Professor of Clinical Accounting in the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He teaches courses on fraudulent financial reporting, forensic accounting, and managerial accounting on the MBA program as well as the graduate and undergraduate accounting programs. He has been on the faculty at USC since 1987. He holds a Master's degree in Accounting from Rhodes University and a Doctorate in Accounting from the University of South Africa. He has worked for two major public accounting firms and is both a chartered accountant and a CPA. He presents seminars and consults on aggressive financial reporting issues. Professor Jackson is the Director of the USC Center of the California Council on Economic Education (CCEE). He lives in Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS. Acknowledgments v. 1. Gold Dust: Introduction to the Problem of Fictitious. Financial Reporting 1. Table 1.1 The Top Twenty Methods of Fictitious. Financial Reporting. 2. The Sizzling Saga of Sunbeam. Part 1: The History of Sunbeam. Part 2: The History of Al Dunlap. Part 3: Dunlaps Carrot-and-Stick Approach. Part 4: An Overview of Sunbeams Fictitious Financial Reporting Schemes. Part 5: The Sunbeam Inferno. Part 6: Signals of Sunbeams Schemes. 3. Hocus Pocus. Sensormatic: Madness at Midnight. Xerox: Not to be Copied. CUC/Cendant: Phony Funds. Insignia: Return to Sender. 4. WorldCom Wizardry: From WorldCom to World-Con. Part 1: The Wizards of Worldcom. Part 2: The Acquisitions Spree. Part 3: Problems in Wizard World. Part 4: An Overview of WorldComs Fictitious Financial. Reporting Schemes. Part 5: The Collapse of Wizard World. Part 6: The Gatekeepers Who Failed WorldCom. Part 7: Signals of the WorldCom Fraud. 5. Abracadabra. Livent: Phantom of the Finances. Rite Aid: "The Keys to the Kingdom". Allegheny (AHERF): Trick or Treatment? Lockheed: Sky High. 6. Enron and the Tale of the Golden Goose. Part 1: Hatching the Goose: The Start of Enron. Part 2: Fattening the Goose: Enron Capital and Trade (ECT). Part 3: Plucking the Goose: How Enron Lost Its Gold. Part 4: Stuffing the Goose: The Electricity Fiasco in California. Part 5: How Enron Cooked the Books: The Main Fictitious Financial Reporting Schemes. Part 6: Signals of the Enron Fraud: Indications That Enron was a Cooked Goose. 7. Tall Tales. The Edison Lesson. The Adelphia Account. The BellSouth Warning. Krispy Kreme and the Missing Dough. 8. The Pension-Fund Fantasy. Part 1: The Disappearing Pension. Part 2: The Alchemy of Pension Accounting. 9. Reform: Is There a Magic Potion? Part 1: Introduction. Part 2: Corporate Governance Reform Since 2002. Part 3: Emerging Reform Issues. Table 9.2 The Top Twenty-Five Signals Indicating Possible Fictitious Reporting in Financial Statements. Epilogue The True Philosophers Stone: Making Ethical Decisions in the Business World. Accounting Abbreviations. Index.