Scott (2006: 344) in Mestuti and Mutmainah (2012)
defines earnings management as the selection of
accounting policies by the manager of the Financial
Accounting Standards which exist and naturally can
maximize their utility and/or the market value of the
company. According to Dechow et al. (1995) in
Murwaningsari (2008) earnings management is defined
as the manipulation of earnings, both inside and outside
the boundaries of acceptable accounting principles
generally. However, Djakman (2003) emphasizes that
earnings management is not the same as manipulation.
Earnings management is done in order to meet the
interests of management by exploiting the inherent
weaknesses of the accounting policies, whereas the
mean earnings manipulation offenses accounting
Net J Bus Manag 50
principles generally accepted to produce the company's
financial performance in accordance interests. It can be
concluded that earnings management is a deliberate
action by the management of the company's financial
reporting process to external companies that utilize
research to influence the decisions of users as well as for
the sake of personal gain despite the fact that the
company's financial condition is not as reported.