Investigating Cash Flow Statements & Fraud Manipulation
摘要
This chapter focuses on how the cash flow statement can be manipulated to misrepresent a company's financial health. Cash flow is divided into three main categories: cash flow from operations (CFFO), cash flow from investing (CFFI), and cash flow from financing (CFFF). While a healthy business should have strong CFFO, fraudsters may manipulate the statement to inflate this number. This can be done by shifting financing cash flow to operating cash flow, shifting operating cash outflows to investing cash outflows, inflating operating cash flow using acquisitions or divestitures, or boosting operating cash flow using unsustainable activitiesBoosting operating cash flow using unsustainable activities. Investors should be wary of these tactics and look for the red flags described in the chapter.