Managing earnings involves the manipulation of financial reporting by publicly traded companies in order to misrepresent how well they’re really doing. Companies might insert a low-ball estimate of bad debt or delay the announcement of a capital project—anything that can help a struggling public company report an extra cent or two of earnings per share in its quarterly or annual statement and avoid negative buzz and a stock sell-off.
Click here for original story, When companies massage the books, the environment takes a hit
Source: Phys.org