We contribute to the earnings management literature and provide insights for accounting regulatorsby investigating the impact of FRS3 on accruals management by UK firms. FRS3 mandated net incomeper share, whilst allowing the release of incremental information on sustainable profitability....

We examine whether UK firms engage in earnings management or forecast guidance over theperiod 1994−2002 in order to ensure that their reported earnings meet analyst earnings expectations.We explore two earnings management mechanisms: a) the use of positive abnormal working capitalaccruals and...