cooking the books
Falsifying financial records
Cooking the books is falsifying financial records to conceal theft, evade taxes, or make a company appear more profitable than it is.
The phrase suggests careful manipulation rather than crude fraud—adjusting figures the way a cook adjusts ingredients: The CFO had been cooking the books for years before auditors caught on.
- internal auditsOrganization's self-conducted financial reviews
- tax avoidanceLegal payment minimization
- forensic accountingExamining records for fraud
- forensic analysisScientific examination for legal proceedings
- round-trippingSham transactions returning funds
fudge · reputational damage · ethical dilemmas · creative accounting · whistleblower protection · Enron · window dressing · embezzlement · hush · financial fraud · ledger · balance sheet · file · shred · smoking gun · tally · slush fund · receipt
- corruptioncorruption, graft, kickbacks, bribery, bribes
- fraudscam, fraud, swindle, con, deceive
- corporate crimescorporate fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, price fixing, embezzlement
- embezzlementpeculation, defalcation, misuse of funds, misappropriation, siphoning
- financial crimesbank fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud
- financial fraudsecurities fraud, bank fraud, accounting fraud, defalcation, embezzler
cooking the booksethical business practices
Morally sound commercial conduct
whistleblowing · financial integrity · fiduciary duty · corporate transparency · accountability
book, cook, cooking, books, booked, booking, bookish, booklet, cooks