Abstract:

In the current context of economic and financial worldwide crisis, the integration of accounting and ethics is urgent, emphasizing an ethical dimension that triggers a new perspective on financial reporting so that accounting can promote economic recovery. This research is about accounting environment and the risk of fraud, investigating the relationship between creative accounting and ethics. It presents and defines the concepts of creative accounting, accounting fraud and other associated terms. In order to analyse the level of discomfort accountants perceive towards decisions that involve creative and fraudulent accounting practices, it was constructed a survey sent to 168 accountants, from 37 companies listed on Euronext Lisbon. Based on the data obtained from the responses to the survey and the statistical analysis performed, five dimensions creative accounting were identified. Accountants identify manipulation practices that are closer to fraud and that violate accounting and financial reporting standards and identify less creative practices which include less fraud and are more ethical creative accounting practices. It is concluded that although there is no exact definition of fraud in financial reporting widely accepted in all countries, nor consensus on the distinction between fraud and creative accounting, accountants present different degrees of discomfort in ethical terms before practices of fraud and creative accounting. Therefore, it seems that creative accounting practices are not fraud.

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