Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which earning management is ethical from the perspective of the financial statements’ users. Corporate scandals and bankruptcies that are witnessed worldwide were in conjunction with earning management practices. Specifically, the study asks whether certain earning management practices are deemed ethical from the perspectives of surveyed practicing accountants and financial analysts in Saudi Arabia. Results of the study show that some earning management practices are aligned with the interests of surveyed subjects, which justifies doing them, especially when the illegality of such practices are of concern. The research findings should lead accounting professionals, academics and educators to rethink the idea of viewing the corporation from an agency perspective. Such findings are constrained by the small sample size which was collected in a relatively short period of time. Furthermore, with the absent of philosophies of ethics and value in accounting curricula and in the process of issuing financial accounting standards along with the absence of a clear definition of “truth” in accounting, it is concerning that the ethicality of an accounting practice may be defined from the perspective of a party who is assuming responsibility of corporate matters. Such a definition may not be in the best interest of other parties; rather, it may be harmful to them. The public is represented in corporation domain by accounting professionals who are supposed to guard the public interest. Only when corporate scandals emerge, governments erect and punish on a time when wealth of the public is already shifted to other parties. Governing corporation from the perspective of agency should be rethought.