Earnings Management Practices: The Certified Accountant’s Perspective.

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the legality and the development of the Earnings Management Practices (EMP), from the perspective of certified accountants. EMP occurs as a result of inaccuracy in accounting standards. Earnings management when intentional distorts accounting and financial information, manipulate stakeholder’s behavior and influencing the decision-making process. Thus, companies are expected to use EMP to mirror the desired image rather than the real image.

We have used a quantitative methodological approach with a survey questionnaire, conducting an empirical study based on a sample of certified accountants. The results show that majority of the certified accountants consider that (1) earnings management is legal because it is developed within the scope of accounting standards, (2) except for age and gender, work experience, education and training influences the perception of the legality of EMP and (3) earnings management is developed in companies and the most common practices are the ones related to the depreciation/amortization of assets. This study stresses the understanding of certified accountants’ legal perception about EMP’s legality, allowing the improvement of the accounting standards, in order to fight not only tax evasion but also tax avoidance. This is a pioneer study combining certified accountants’ individual characteristics and EMP, therefore, crucial for the entities’ accounting standardization.