Recipe for Cooked Books (but not like Mum used to make)

I've posted before (http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/08/bad-broth.html) about the ongoing cook-off that gets done, whether or not with mens rea, in corporate accounting these days. An apparently innocent version of that was noted in the SMH today:

"Westfield, the country's retail bellwether, has issued a sobering warning for the economy after revealing that sales conditions will slow in the next six months, thanks to falling consumer confidence. The cash registers are feeling the effects of high petrol prices, a warm winter and declining demand for homewares - a combination that could ultimately help prompt a reduction in official interest rates. Despite the warnings, the country's biggest retail landlord said net profit for the six months to June 30 was $1.5 billion - bolstered by the revaluation of 34 properties totalling $1.169 million due to the new International Financial Reporting Standards." http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/slowdown-to-bite-westfield/2005/08/31/1125302628981.html

If you're wondering how to cook up a big hot mess of books of your own, you can get a primer at "How Cooking the Books Works": http://money.howstuffworks.com/cooking-books.htm/printable