Creative Accounting - uses and abuses of accounting systems

Understanding the fundamentals of accounting is crucial to effective corporate credit analysis. WorldCom, Enron and Adelphia Communications Corporation are high profile examples of accounting abuses and a breakdown of standards of corporate governance. However there are many other examples of companies "bending the rules?. We look not only at all the major areas that give rise to creative accounting, but also at the profiles of companies prone to accounting abuse and the symptoms that lead to it.