The first edition of this well-regarded title has quietly sold over 20,000 copies, with sales holding strong year after year. According to a recent Business Week article, business is booming for financial researchers as money managers increasingly look to these researchers to warn them of the potential blow-ups in their portfolios. A leading expert in the accounting, Howard Schilit is well known for uncovering some of the biggest accounting blowups in recent years, including Sunbeam Corporation. Much has changed in the business world, and while the foundational "shenanigans" may look the same on the outside, they've taken on a whole new twist on the inside so that even the pros are fooled. A practical, hands-on guide, Financial Shenanigans shows readers that you can teach an old dog new tricks. With data and research on over 1,300 companies, Schilit illustrates the current climate of accounting fraud and how those old ploys are operating differently now. This book presents the tools investors, managers, and auditors need to not only research and read financial reports but also to identify the early warning signs of a company's problems, before the earnings come out. The current edition of this strong-selling book consists of thirteen chapters with seven shenanigans. New to this edition are four additional chapters and though the same core seven shenanigans are featured, new variations to each trick are presented in each chapter. For example, Shenanigan No. 4 is "Shifting Current Expenses to a Later Period." The beverage company Snapple did a variation on this shenanigan by shifting to an earlier period. These new twists and variations can make even the pros fall for an old trick. People need to know that even though the old scams have been around for years and years, they need to look beyond those old rules to find out what's really going on. Each chapter will be brought up-to-date and will also feature new introductions. Other original material includes: How the Internet has created new shenanigans; The biggest accounting frauds of the last 10 years; How to interpret and use financial reports to assess the future situation of a company; Alternate ways old tricks are changing to look new and how to find these hidden twists; Updated real-world examples, including Microsoft and Oxford Health Plans, Inc.; Identifying international fraud as well as current examples; Inflated profits, suspicious write-offs, and other accounting ploys are becoming increasingly common - and reinvented - as companies desperately seek to satisfy Wall Street. By bringing the current edition of this book up-to-date, Financial Shenanigans brings to light the new alternative tricks that managers and investors need to find in order to truly know the real value of a company.

About the Author

Howard M. Schilit, Ph.D., CPA, is president of the Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA), a leading independent financial research organization, and is one of today's leading authorities on detecting accounting gimmicks. Dr. Schilit, a former professor at American University, has been quoted or featured in numerous business publications including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fortune, and The New York Times, and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, and other networks. He is also the coauthor of Blue Chips and Hot Tips.