CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR TAX & FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS
Self-Study

Beyond the Numbers: Understanding Earnings Management and Its Ethical Landscape

Individual
Teams

$58.00$78.00

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CPE Credits

2 Credits: Accounting
Course Level
Overview
Format
Self-Study

Course Description

This course provides an overview of earnings management techniques and their ethical implications. This course covers basics like revenue recognition timing, expense manipulation, provision adjustments, income smoothing, and cost-cutting. This course also addresses more advanced methods such as financial engineering, tax planning, big bath accounting, accounting policy changes, and round-trip transactions. Throughout this course, the ethical considerations inherent in these techniques are addressed through a series of example situations.

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Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Identify different methods of revenue recognition timing used in earnings management
  • Recognize examples of expense manipulation in financial reporting
  • Distinguish between provision and reserve manipulation techniques
  • Determine the impact of asset valuation adjustments on reported financial performance
  • Differentiate between income smoothing strategies and their effects on financial statements
  • Identify financial engineering techniques in advanced earnings management
  • Distinguish legitimate tax planning from earnings management strategies
  • Determine the impact of big bath accounting on financial reporting
  • Differentiate permissible changes in accounting policies from manipulative adjustments
  • Recognize risks associated with round-trip transactions in earnings management
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Course Specifics

Course ID
SS124394318
Revision Date
August 19, 2024
Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.

Advanced Preparation

None

Number of Pages
57

Compliance Information

NASBA Provider Number: 103220

CMA Notice: Western CPE makes every attempt to maintain our CMA CPE library, to ensure a course meets your continuing education requirements please visit Insitute of Management Accountants (IMA)

CFP Notice: Not all courses that qualify for CFP® credit are registered by Western CPE. If a course does not have a CFP registration number in the compliance section, the continuing education will need to be individually reported with the CFP Board. For more information on the reporting process, required documentation, processing fee, etc., contact the CFP Board. CFP Professionals must take each course in it’s entirety, the CFP Board DOES NOT accept partial credits for courses.

Meet The Experts

Kelen is a recognized author and reviewer of CPE courses and has authored over 145 courses (350+ CPE credit hours) covering a range of accounting, auditing, financial reporting, regulatory, and ethics topics. Kelen remained involved in CPA exam content development for nearly 10 years and authored more than a thousand multiple choice questions for various sections of the CPA exam. He also serves as an Editorial Advisor for the AICPA’s Journal of Accountancy. Kelen has nearly 20 years of progressive finance and accounting experience. He currently serves as an Accounting Policy Advisor with HP. Prior to HP, he served in multiple …