How investors can be fooled by provisions

Tim Bennett takes a look at how companies can manipulate what accountants call 'provisions' to create the profit profile they want investors to see. He also explains how you can avoid being fooled.

By Tim Bennett
published

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How investors can be fooled by long-term contracts

How investors can be fooled by development costs

Tim Bennett

Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.

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