When analyzing accounting scandals, you need to have a clear picture of whether they
concern an alleged embezzlement in the sense of fraudulent activities, such as the
accusation in the case of the British company Independent Insurance, where the company
decreased the scope of its liabilities in the statements for the period 1997 to 2001 (The
Serious Fraud Office, 2005), or whether they concern questionable accounting practices for
the purpose of what the management calls ‘‘closing the gap’’ to meet revenue and profit
goals. Xerox Company was called to account on several occasions for ‘‘accounting
maneuvers’’ by the Securities and Exchange Commission. A typical example is the SEC’s
complaint dated 2002 ‘‘when Xerox recorded revenue from copy machine leases –
recognizing a sale in the period the lease contract was signed, instead of recognizing
revenue ratably over the entire length of the contract’’. Hence, in this case it is not the validity
of revenue at issue, rather when it was recognized (Wikipedia.org, 2007b).