Scandals relating to manipulation and fraud have dominated much of the history of business and the accounting profession in America since it's founding. Crooks, corruption, scandals, and panics have been regular features of the business landscape, with regulations and the expansion of financial disclosure, auditing, and regulatory agencies following major debacles. Prior to the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the 1930s and the development of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), few accounting rules existed and it is difficult to identify "accounting" scandals. Beginning with the New Deal of the 1930s, regulations of financial markets (including the SEC); the creation of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and organizations to improve and keep GAAP current (now in the hands of the Financial Accounting Standards Board); and auditing (currently under the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) improved accounting and audit practices and financial disclosures. Despite these efforts, accounting frauds continue-many in new and innovative ways. This book brings to light the importance of incentive structures of key players, consideration of economic and psychological perspectives on behavior, and the need for increasingly effective regulation, which become more obvious by considering decades of abuse. Executive compensation, pensions, market values, special purpose entities, and derivatives continue to be problematic accounting issues as they have for decades. Inside, you'll get exposure to financial disclosure issues and other accounting risks, plus additional knowledge of accounting fraud and risk areas.

Accountants were present at the creation of civilization, maintained their importance throughout history, and proved essential at various stages of cultural development-from the earliest record-keeping and the invention of writing, to double-entry bookkeeping, cost accounting of complex manufacturing, the development of professional management and accounting (which went hand-in-hand), through the amazing technologies of the information age. In other words, our civilization does not exist without sophisticated accountants and their dynamic inventions. Telling this amazing story is the purpose of this book. The story of accounting and how information is collected, analyzed and disclosed is as old as-and absolutely essential to-civilization. A fair number of key ingredients needed for modern business (and other institutions) were invented in the ancient world-money, record-keeping, numbers, writing, property rights, trade, banking, the corporation. Many of the factors that are part of today's rocket science on Wall Street date back to earlier centuries, including the use of credit, derivatives, and stock markets-not to mention manipulation and fraud. Financial, managerial and other accounting information was needed for successful entrepreneurs. The information revolution started with Gutenberg's press (which conveniently spread Pacioli's Summa across Europe), the Industrial Revolution with the steam engine, mass transit with the railroad, and instantaneous communications with Samuel Morse's telegraph. The internet represents important extensions of earlier innovations, the latest phase of the information revolution. Accountants were directly (or indirectly) involved in all of these and accounting information permeates virtually every aspect of the complex culture that is modern civilization. This book is a brief history of accounting, focusing on the long-term importance of accounting on issues from information accumulation and analysis around money and finance, business and government, and continuing success as technology and innovation expands. The focus is relatively traditional, except it intertwines with commerce, finance, and related business interests that make up what became modern civilization. For example, most corporations and other entities innovated and succeeded long-term because of increasingly complex (and useful) accounting techniques providing necessary information and control. This was true of Josiah Wedgwood, Andrew Carnegie, and General Motors. Accounting applications became early uses of computers, beginning with payroll records at General Electric in the 1950s. From electronic spreadsheets to tax preparation, the computer/accounting partnership continues.

Accountants were present at the creation of civilization, maintained their importance throughout history, and proved essential at various stages of cultural development-from the earliest record-keeping and the invention of writing, to double-entry bookkeeping, cost accounting of complex manufacturing, the development of professional management and accounting (which went hand-in-hand), through the amazing technologies of the information age. In other words, our civilization does not exist without sophisticated accountants and their dynamic inventions. Telling this amazing story is the purpose of this book. The story of accounting and how information is collected, analyzed and disclosed is as old as-and absolutely essential to-civilization. A fair number of key ingredients needed for modern business (and other institutions) were invented in the ancient world-money, record-keeping, numbers, writing, property rights, trade, banking, the corporation. Many of the factors that are part of today's rocket science on Wall Street date back to earlier centuries, including the use of credit, derivatives, and stock markets-not to mention manipulation and fraud. Financial, managerial and other accounting information was needed for successful entrepreneurs. The information revolution started with Gutenberg's press (which conveniently spread Pacioli's Summa across Europe), the Industrial Revolution with the steam engine, mass transit with the railroad, and instantaneous communications with Samuel Morse's telegraph. The internet represents important extensions of earlier innovations, the latest phase of the information revolution. Accountants were directly (or indirectly) involved in all of these and accounting information permeates virtually every aspect of the complex culture that is modern civilization. This book is a brief history of accounting, focusing on the long-term importance of accounting on issues from information accumulation and analysis around money and finance, business and government, and continuing success as technology and innovation expands. The focus is relatively traditional, except it intertwines with commerce, finance, and related business interests that make up what became modern civilization. For example, most corporations and other entities innovated and succeeded long-term because of increasingly complex (and useful) accounting techniques providing necessary information and control. This was true of Josiah Wedgwood, Andrew Carnegie, and General Motors. Accounting applications became early uses of computers, beginning with payroll records at General Electric in the 1950s. From electronic spreadsheets to tax preparation, the computer/accounting partnership continues.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of a corporation and her executive team are responsible for the management of the business and its continued financial success. This team is almost always highly compensated and the relative total compensation has mushroomed over time. Most of the compensation now is designed to be performance-based; but this structure leads to charges that it provides executives with incentives to manipulate short term corporate earnings and stock prices to serve their own compensation self interests. The book explores this premise and provides guidance into how such determinations are made. Three key points are emphasized in this book. First is the role that accounting and disclosure play in informing the process of determining executive compensation. Second is the recognition that executive compensation can affect corporate behavior in a variety of ways; and finally, there is the acknowledgement that executive compensation cannot be fully understood without one first becoming familiar with economic theory and empirical research related to compensation models. Because the rationale for executive compensation and the way it is viewed has changed over time, this book adopts a historical/chronological perspective. This perspective allows the book to make several observations about the state of executive compensation and how public disclosures about it have been demanded and have increased over time. The business culture and institutional framework for compensation of top executives has changed dramatically since the 1930s, with important ramifications. Types and amounts of executive pay have bounced up and down based on tax laws, regulatory changes and executive self-interest, as executives find new ways to be paid more. Yet research has shown that, despite some notable excesses, overall executive compensation is often more reasonable than recent perceptions would suggest.

Scandals relating to manipulation and fraud have dominated much of the history of business and the accounting profession in America since the founding. Crooks, corruption, scandals and panics have been regular features of the business landscape ever since, with regulations and the expansion of financial disclosure, auditing, and regulatory agencies following major debacles. The importance of this topic is demonstrated by the major accounting and finance scandals of the 21st century, some of the most destructive in our history, including Enron and the multi-trillion dollar real estate crises. This pair of scandals has an extensive number of companions (if less severe and not as well known). The types of violations, causes, and results are equally valid and continue to be of concern today. This short book reveals the signs that suggest financial corruption in organizations and proposes remedies to contain it and prevent its recurrence. It can be used as a supplementary source in introductory financial accounting courses (elementary and intermediate), accounting- and finance-related MBA courses, and business history, or it can be used as part of forensic accounting and fraud detection for continuing education. In addition, it can be useful for accounting and finance professionals wanting exposure to financial disclosure issues and other accounting risks, along with executives looking to expand their knowledge of accounting fraud and risk areas.