CREATIVE ACCOUNTING VERSUS FRAUD

This article sets out to present the difference between the means of executing creative accountingand that of executing fraud, the way in which they are perceived in the business environment, as well as the implications that they have in companies’ activities. The article’s structure consists in an analysis of the terms „creative accounting†and „fraudâ€, presenting ideas and definitions that a series of economists have attributed to these terms, the differences between the two concepts, the risks that they imply and the opinion of the business environment regarding the two phenomena. The hypotheses that the article is based on constituted the starting point for a study conducted on the employees of companies operating on Romanian territory. The conclusions confirmed most of the study’s hypotheses and the fact that the two terms are often mistaken for one another and, in the opinion of the majority of respondents, constitute reasons for concern with regard to the financial statements submitted by a company.