What is earnings management?

What is earnings management?



Earnings management is often defined as the planned timing of revenues, expenses, gains and losses to smooth out bumps in earnings. In most cases, earnings management is used to increase income in the current year at the expense of income in future years. For example, companies prematurely recognize sales in order to boost earnings. Earnings management can also be used to decrease current earnings in order to increase income in the future. The classic case is the use of "cookie jar" reserves, which are established by using unrealistic assumptions to estimate liabilities for such items as loan losses, restructuring charges and warranty returns.


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