How widespread is the earnings management problem? In an article in Fortune magazine, Loomis (1999) argues that earnings management is rampant and that CEOs view earnings management as a tool to ensure that their firms meet earnings expectations. Loomis (1999) reports that to SEC chairman Levitt, falsified reports and doctored records are a common problem and there are “great expanses of accounting rot, just waiting to be revealed” (p. 77). The board of directors may have a role in constraining earnings management. The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends, among other things, that board members serving on audit committees should be financially sophisticated to help detect earnings management.