Everyone must have heard about the term “cooking the books”. This term is generally associated with Creative accounting. In simple words, Creative accounting is a method of accounting in which the management tries to show a better picture of the business than the reality. Let us now understand thisRead more
Everyone must have heard about the term “cooking the books”. This term is generally associated with Creative accounting. In simple words, Creative accounting is a method of accounting in which the management tries to show a better picture of the business than the reality. Let us now understand this concept in detail.
What is Creative accounting?
Creative accounting is a method of accounting in which the management manipulates the books of accounts by finding loopholes to showcase a better image of the business.
It is a practice of using accounting loopholes to make a company’s financial position look better than it really is. It is not exactly illegal but it is more of a gray area.
For example, a business may delay reporting expenses to increase the profits to present a better short-term position.
The goal of creative accounting is to impress the shareholders, investors, get loans or boost stock prices.
However, this can also be very risky and have serious consequences. It can reduce the trust of the investors and customers. In some cases, like Enron and WorldCom the world has seen how creative accounting lead to legal consequences.
Common Techniques of Creative Accounting
Some of the common techniques used by the business to manipulate the financial position are as follows:
- Revenue Recognition: Techniques such as recognizing revenue before it is actually earned is a method of creative accounting.
- Expense manipulation: Delaying the recognition of expenses to show a better position of the business in a short-term.
- Undervaluing liabilities: Undervaluing the liabilities of the business by not recognizing any future costs such as insurance or warranty etc.
- Asset Valuation: Overstating the value of asses or high amount of depreciation can be some ways of manipulating the value of assets.
- Tax avoidance: This is a way of reducing the tax liability by manipulating the financial statements to lower the profits.
- Cookie jar accounting: This is a method in which profits in the good years are saved in excess to use in the years of difficulty.
Ethical implications of Creative Accounting
There are several ethical implications with respect to creative accounting. Some of these are discussed below:
- Misleading Stakeholders: Creative accounting is a method to mislead the stakeholders including the investors, creditors, government, etc. This can lead to loss of trust.
- Loss of trust: The shareholders will lose trust over the company if the manipulation is discovered. Creative accounting breaches the fundamental of honesty.
- Non – compliance: Creative accounting leads to the non-compliance of the rules and regulations of the country which requires the businesses to follow certain accounting and reporting standards.
- Unfair competition: Creative accounting can make a company look more profitable and stable than it actually is, misleading investors and customers. This can leave honest businesses, who follow the rules, at a disadvantage.
- Moral responsibility: Management and business has the moral responsibility of working in the best interest of the society and the stakeholders.
Conclusion
The key takeaways from the above discussion are as follows:
- Creative accounting is the practice of using accounting loopholes to make a company’s financial position look better than it really is.
- The goal of creative accounting is to impress the shareholders, and investors, get loans, or boost stock prices.
- Revenue recognition, expense manipulation, and asset valuation are some of the common techniques of Creative accounting.
- The ethical implications of creative accounting include misleading stakeholders, eroding trust, compromising regulatory compliance, promoting unfair competition, neglecting moral responsibility, etc.
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Brands can be considered as an Intangible asset as they are a long-term investment done by the company and it gives benefit to an entity in future periods. Like any other intangible asset, brands require long-term investment and will pay over time. Like any other asset, these brands can be bought anRead more
Brands can be considered as an Intangible asset as they are a long-term investment done by the company and it gives benefit to an entity in future periods.
Like any other intangible asset, brands require long-term investment and will pay over time. Like any other asset, these brands can be bought and sold. Brands are best used when they serve the vision and mission of the company.
So, we can definitely consider an organization brand as an intangible as it is expected to increase sales volume in the future period.
Further, we can understand both terms to get a deep understanding-
BRAND
Brand means a product, or service which has a unique identification and can be distinct from other products in the market. Branding is a process by which expenditure is incurred by an entity to create awareness towards the product in the customer’s eyes.
For example- Maggie, Coca-Cola, BMW
Brands can be created through these elements-
INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Intangible asset are assets that can’t be seen or touched but the benefit of it occur in future periods for the entity. Even though intangible assets have no physical form but their benefits will accrue in future years. Businesses commonly hold intangible assets. Intangible assets can be further bifurcated in
Definite– Intangible assets that stay and give benefit for a limited or specific period of time covered under this
For example- An agreement is entered with an entity to patent a product for 5 years so this will stay for a definite period only
Indefinite– Intangible assets that stay and give benefit for an unlimited period of time covered under this
For example- A brand which is made by an entity will stay for an indefinite period
Intangible assets can be in various forms these are the following –
Trademark– A trademark is a sign, design, and expression that distinguish the company’s product or services from other company. Trademark is considered an Intellectual Property Right.
Goodwill– Goodwill refers to the value of the company that the company gets from its brand, customer base, and brand Reputation associated with its intellectual property.
Patents– A patent refers to a right reserved for a product exclusively by a person or entity. Under this the right of such making of the product gets reserved by the company and other person or entity can’t make this product.
Copyright– Copyright refers to an intellectual property right that protects the work of the original owner from being copied by some other person.
Brand– Brand means a product, or service that has a unique identification and can be distinct from other products in market
So, we can definitely consider that brand is a subpart of an intangible asset and can be considered as an intangible asset as it also can’t be touched or seen. Still, its benefit will accrue till future time. These both help an entity to grow its business till the future
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