cook the accounts

cook the accounts

To falsify financial records for a company or organization. My partner had been cooking the accounts for years, but because I was the CEO, I got the blame for our company's collapse. And what exactly is your defense going to be when the feds figure out you've been cooking the accounts? A: "Why don't you have paperwork for me to send the accountant?" B: "Because I've been cooking the accounts, that's why!"

See also: account, cook

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

cook the accounts

 and cook the books

to cheat in bookkeeping; to make the accounts appear to balance when they do not. Jane was charged with cooking the accounts of her mother's store. It's hard to tell whether she really cooked the accounts or just didn't know what she was doing.

See also: account, cook

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.