And mark-to-market accounting meant that banks were valuing illiquid assets at prices which reflected a lack of buyers as much as underlying credit quality (accounting-standards bodies have since been bullied into allowing bankers to exercise more judgment in how they classify and value such assets).

ECONOMIST: Rebuilding the banks

Schapiro talked about a number of issues, but one she stressed strongly was the need for high quality international accounting standards.

FORBES: Schapiro Virtually Addresses CFA Institute

Audit Integrity looks beyond the raw data that companies report in their income statements and balance sheets to more than 100 factors that help it assess the true quality of accounting and management practices.

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According the DealBook, investors lost billions of dollars on Chinese reverse mergers after some of the companies were accused of accounting fraud and exaggerating the quality and size of their assets.

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Billabong said the 10-day exclusivity period of takeover talks would allow Sycamore to engage an "internationally recognised accounting firm to complete a confirmatory quality of earnings analysis, typical of an acquisition debt financing".

BBC: Billabong in takeover talks with consortium

Not surprisingly, doctors dislike this close accounting, saying that it lowers the quality of their work.

ECONOMIST: The medical profession

Based in Los Angeles, Audit Integrity evaluates hundreds of financial items on each corporation and scores companies in three key topics: accounting and governance, financial condition and earnings quality.

FORBES

Critical to super-charging your accounting practice is the ability to bring in new, high-quality, well-paying clients on a consistent basis.

FORBES: How to Super-Charge Your Accounting Practice

Thus, while gross restatements may be up for a segment of public companies, the underlying quality of those restatements is suggestive of a further reduction in acknowledged accounting-related errors or transgressions.

FORBES: Restatements Resurrected?: Accounting Fraud By The Numbers