Financial Statement Manipulation: A Beneish Model Application

Abstract

The purpose of the financial statements is to present the situations of the enterprises, such as the financial situation, results of operations, etc., in the decision-making processes to the related parties in a suitable, comparable, and realistic manner. In recent years, professional frauds in enterprises have been seriously reflected in financial statements and this has resulted in the manipulation of financial information.

In this study, we aim to determine financial firms, which might manipulate the financial information, by applying the Beneish model and then determine the financial indicators of possible financial statement manipulation, using logistic regression. For this purpose, companies included constantly in Borsa İstanbul-50 (BIST-50) 2015, 2016, and 2017 were examined. After the enterprises which have the possibility of financial manipulation are determined by the Beneish model, it is understood that there is a positive relationship between the probability of manipulating financial information and the Asset Quality Index and Sales, general and administrative expenses index.

Citation

Erdoğan, M. and Erdoğan, E.O. (2020), "Financial Statement Manipulation: A Beneish Model Application", Grima, S., Boztepe, E. and Baldacchino, P.J. (Ed.) Contemporary Issues in Audit Management and Forensic Accounting (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Vol. 102), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 173-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1569-375920200000102014