The so-called "financial statement scandal" involving Enron, the 7th biggest company in the U.S., not only represented an enormous loss to its investors, but also resulted in the disintegration of Arthur Andersen, one of the world's top 5 accounting firms. The scandal had a serious impact on the securities market as well as the accounting system, and for a while the market was inundated with books and articles on how to analyze financial statements, uncover financial statement frauds, or see through accounting tricks. As these articles contained detailed discussions relating to means of "window dressing" financial statements, this issue will not be discussed here. Instead, the author will provide a few comments concerning the so-called "accounting scandal" from the point of view of a practicing accountant and auditor.

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