International Financial Reporting Standards and sales manipulation in failed firms

case for non-adopters. Originality/value: I explore the reason for these observations by analysing the setting of the UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and IFRS. The contribution of this study is that it demonstrates that while failed firms have been reported to manage earnings, this appears to persist with IFRS-failed firms when compared to non-IFRS-failed firms. This suggests that IFRS standards may inadvertently facilitate failed firms that adopt IFRS in exploring real earnings management avenues, particularly concerning sales manipulation, in contrast to non-IFRS-failed firms. [Publisher's text]