IDENTIFYING THE DIRECTION OF FINANCIAL RESULTS DISTORTION IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF COMPANIES IN THE SIBERIAN FEDERAL DISTRICT
An algorithm is proposed for detecting signs and directions of accounting (financial) statements manipulation, i.e. overstating or understating, first of all, the company’s financial results. The first is used to embellish the financial condition of the company in order to obtain external financing. The second is used when drawing up tax optimization schemes. Based on the example of the accrual coefficient applied to all stakeholder groups and calculated for 12 regions of the Siberian Federal district, using the clustering method, the set data was distributed into three distributions, namely: a cluster with companies that overestimate financial performance; a cluster with companies that do not distort financial performance; and a cluster with companies that underestimate financial performance, while these distributions are subject to the law of normal distribution. Based on studies of real populations using the EM algorithm and the STATSTICA program, the boundaries of manipulating accounting (financial) statements in clusters were obtained and the directions of misrepresentation of accounting (financial) statements were determined. Companies have been identified for 12 regions of the Siberian Federal District that do not distort accounting (financial) statements or distort them in the direction of overstating and understating financial results. The results of this research should be used to assess the investment attractiveness of a particular region.
Keywords:accounting (financial) reporting, manipulation of accounting reports, accrual coefficient, companies manipulating accounting reports, cluster analysis.
Highlights:
♦ based on the results of empirical research, the research sample was divided into clusters and identified areas of financial results distortion in the accounting (financial) reporting for each region of the SFO;
♦ it is proved that the boundaries of the accrual rate for different regions of the SFO highlighted in the research process can serve as an additional analytical tool for verifying the reliability of accounting (financial) statements in the interests of various groups of stakeholders, including when assessing the investment attractiveness of a particular region.
Marina Yu. Saveleva, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor of the Corporate Governance and Finance Department; Mikhail A. Alekseev, Doctor of Economics; Natalia V. Gamarnikova, Corporate Management and Finance Department Assistant - Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management.