Beneish M-score: A measure of fraudulent financial transactions in global environment?

Abstract

Research background: Earnings is a source of information for capital owners, potential investors, competitors, customer and supplier of the company. Managers have the direct motivation and knowledge and use adequate techniques to adjust legally the reported earnings to meet the specific requirements of the company and achieve stable financial results. Thus, earnings management is currently the most provocative and highly topical issue in the field of finance and accounting at the global perspective. Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the paper is to detect the manipulation with earnings in a specific sector of economy, following the global principles of financial reporting, and to reveal the degree of manipulation of enterprises in the selected countries of the Visegrad grouping. Methods: The model of Beneish M-score is applied using the sectoral data and compares the level of manipulation in the period 2015-2019. The Beneish model is a mathematical-statistical model that uses financial ratios calculated with accounting data of a specific enterprise aimed to detect if an enterprise is likely that the reported earnings of the company were manipulated. Findings & Value added: The paper monitors the development of the manipulation with earnings in the given sector (enterprises tend to manage earnings upwards), and analyses the influences of macroeconomic factors on the phenomenon of earnings management. The detection of earnings management by M-score helps protect business partners of an enterprise against fraudulent behaviour, especially in the global environment.