Window dressing refers to falsified reporting of accounts to make financial statements appear better than they actually are. The accounting manipulation typically involves overreporting sales and underreporting expenses to inflate profits, hiding losses, or transferring losses to affiliates. Such fraudulent activity is often undertaken by companies trying to avoid bankruptcy or delisting. In most cases, companies that cook their books do not see their earnings recover after reporting artificially inflated figures. And many of them continue to manipulate earnings, making their financial woes even worse.

see creative accounting.

A common practice by mutual funds to take or get out of equity positions at the end of the quarter in order to improve perceptions.

The practice of taking financial actions immediately prior to a balance date in order to give company balance sheet a more favourable appearance.

Efforts by companies to put a favourable gloss on their accounts, sometimes by raising short-term funds.

Financial adjustments made solely for the purpose of accounting presentation, normally at the time of auditing of company accounts.

Ancillary materials that are included in a cover story or deception operation to help convince the opposition or casual observers that what they are observing is genuine.

a showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something unpleasant

the decoration of shop windows

A card purposely exposed from a closed hand.

A card purposely flashed from one's closed hand.

Another name for three of a kind.