Earnings management

Practice of companies to present earnings over a certain period in a more positive or negative way still remaining within the limitations imposed by regulations, investor oversight and accounting standards. This includes practices like accelerating of processing orders or services provided, accelerating sales efforts to induce purchases before the end of period, delaying spending on operational items, delaying spending on R&D, delaying the start of new projects or acquisitions and adjusting accounting estimates (in particular timing and adjustments), (statistical) assumptions and or methods. At times the opposite measures can also be called for.