cook the books

To falsify financial records for a company or organization. My partner had been cooking the books for years, but because I was the CEO, I got the blame for our company's collapse.See also: book, cook

cook the books

Falsify a company's financial records, as in An independent audit showed that they've been cooking the books for years. This slangy phrase was first recorded in 1636. See also: book, cook

cook the books

1. If someone cooks the books, they dishonestly change the figures in their financial accounts. She knew that when the auditors looked over the books there would be no hiding the fact that she had cooked the books and £3 million was missing. Four years ago, he vowed to strike back after discovering that a promoter was cooking the books. Note: The `books' in this expression are books of accounts. 2. If someone cooks the books, they dishonestly change written records. The committee admitted that, in its recent trials, many officials cooked the books.See also: book, cook

cook the books

alter records, especially accounts, with fraudulent intent or in order to mislead. informal Cook has been used since the mid 17th century in this figurative sense of ‘tamper with’ or ‘manipulate’.See also: book, cook

ˌcook the ˈbooks

(informal) change facts or figures in order to make the situation seem better than it is or to hide the fact that you have stolen money: The two directors of the company had been cooking the books, a local court heard yesterday.See also: book, cook

cook the books

Falsely adjust the accounts. The verb “to cook” has meant to manipulate ever since the 1600s and continued to be used, especially with reference to changing figures, to the present day. The current phrase popularized the concept, its rhyme more attractive than simply “cook the accounts,” and it has largely replaced other versions since the second half of the 1900s. The 1986 film Legal Eagles had it (“The three partners were cookin’ the books”), as did a New York Times editorial about the Environmental Protection Agency: “The agency was thus ordered to cook the books, deliberately underestimating the reductions that would be possible under alternative approaches . . .” (March 21, 2005).See also: book, cook

Cook the books

To deliberately falsify the financial statements of a company. This is an illegal practice.

Cook the Books

Informal; to falsify an accounting statement deliberately. Cooking the books usually involves overstating revenue and/or understating expenses. A person can use aggressive accounting to cook the books by using creative ways to make a company look healthier than it is. More directly, a person can simply lie on a financial statement. Cooking the books is illegal.

cook the books

To distort a firm's financial statements. For example, a manager may intentionally overstate sales or understate expenses in order to create high net income.

Cook the books.

When a company cooks the books, it is deliberately -- and illegally -- providing false information about its financial situation to bolster its stock price, often by overstating profits and hiding losses.

A company may also cook the books to reduce its tax liability, but then it stirs in the opposite direction by underreporting profits and overstating losses.