Những nhà quản lý có thể áp dụng phương pháp vốn chủ sở hữu hay thuê hoạt động hoặc kế toán lương hưu trong một cách để che giấu các khoản nợ. Các nhà quản lý cũng có thể tạo ra các thực thể mục đích đặc biệt mà họ có thể công viên nợ. Dù bằng cách nào, các nhà quản lý | My Investments Went Ouch tune has its limits however and after that as managers add more debt the liabilities begin to magnify the decline in returns. Because of this double-edged sword investors and creditors scrutinize the financial leverage of any institution. Such a close inspection by the investment community might tempt some managers to lie about their liabilities. These managers could apply the equity method or operating leases or pension accounting in such a way as to hide the liabilities. The managers might also create special-purpose entities in which they could park the debt. Either way the managers and their professional advisers are lying to the public. In some cases as with WorldCom and Adelphia the managers are downright fraudulent. But even in the more common case in which managers follow generally accepted accounting principles the managers are still deceiving the investment community and so they should reject use of these flawed rules. Lying about debt matters. Whenever investors and creditors are afraid they will be stiffed they just increase the financial reporting risk premium. The cost of capital goes up and stock prices and bond prices go down. Managers can add value to their firms by telling the truth. notes 1. Some good discussions on financial ratios can be found in R. A. Brealey and S. C. Myers Principles of Corporate Finance 7th ed. New York McGraw-Hill Irwin 2002 E. F. Brigham and J. F. Houston Fundamentals of Financial Management 8th ed. New York Dryden 1998 R. C. Higgins Analysis for Financial Management New York Irwin 2000 J. E. Ketz R. Doogar and D. E. Jensen Cross-Industry Analysis of Financial Ratios Comparabilities and Corporate Performance New York Quorum Books 1990 F. K. Reilly and K. C. Brown Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management 6th ed. New York Dryden 2000 L. Revsine D. W. Collins and W. B. Johnson Financial Reporting and Analysis 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice-Hall 2002 and G. I. White A. C. Sondhi and D. .
