OFFENDER'S PLAYBOOK · 60–90 min · 1–6 players

Creative Books

The accountant's desk after hours.

Manipulate the accounts. Move revenue with transfer pricing, capitalise expenses, park liabilities in SPVs — and watch each move ripple through the P&L, the tax bill and the audit signature.

⚑ Educational simulation. Every 'creative' entry produces a red-flag ratio for an alert auditor.

Other games

Learning objectives

01Understand the mechanics of aggressive accounting choices
02Map each move to its ratio-analysis fingerprint
03Recognise the SPV / off-balance-sheet playbook

Standards mapping

FATF Recommendations and CPD credit

Learning objective	FATF
Understand the mechanics of aggressive accounting choices	R.3
Map each move to its ratio-analysis fingerprint	R.11
Recognise the SPV / off-balance-sheet playbook	R.11, R.24

R.3 Money laundering offence. Tax crime is a designated predicate offence.
R.11 Record keeping. Each entry is traced back to the record that would expose it.
R.24 Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons. SPV and off-balance-sheet parking depends on opaque ownership.

Also covers: OECD Fighting Tax Crime: The Ten Global Principles · IAS 24 / IFRS 10 consolidation · ISA 240 (auditor responsibilities relating to fraud)

CPD credit rationale

1.5 structured hours (1.5 verifiable) — streams: Tax administration, Audit and assurance, Forensic accounting.

Hours are claimed against structured learning: facilitated play against a published set of learning objectives, decisions scored on a rubric, and a written debrief retained by the participant. Twelve scored entries each mapped to a ratio fingerprint and a detecting audit test give an accounting-stream assessor a clear technical trail.

Evidence retained: Ratio fingerprint log; Named audit test per move.

Table setup · 1–6 players

Best with 3–4 (finance team versus audit)

1Solo study

Twelve creative moves against a live audit meter.

2Head-to-head

Preparer versus auditor: the auditor picks one test after every two entries.

3–4Case cell

S1–S3 prepare, S4 audits; entries are only booked once the controller can narrate them.

5–6Full table

Add S5 and S6 for a full governance and revenue-authority review at year end.

Seats at the table

S1CFOSets the earnings target and approves each entry.
S2Group financial controllerExecutes the entries and keeps the file coherent.
S3Tax directorOwns the effective tax rate and transfer-pricing story.
S4External auditorRuns the ratio tests and issues the opinion.
S5Audit committee chairAsks the question the auditor is too polite to ask.
S6Revenue authority examinerReconstructs taxable income after the fact.

Team rules

01One seat, one voice: a decision is only locked when the seat that owns it says so out loud.
02Every locked decision needs a one-sentence justification the seat would defend in a real file.
03Any player may call a 60-second 'case conference' once per round to force a table discussion.
04The facilitator (or the highest-scoring player of the previous round) keeps time and reads the outcome cards.
05Every booked entry must be stated with its ratio fingerprint before the auditor responds.

Rotation — Swap the preparer and audit benches for the second financial year.

How to play

1.You inherit a mid-cap P&L. Twelve 'creative' moves are available.
2.Each move updates revenue, EBITDA, effective tax rate and net debt in real time.
3.Audit meter: cross 3 red-flag ratios and the auditor issues a qualified opinion — game over.

Revenue

€800m

EBITDA

€120m

Effective tax rate

22%

Net debt

€300m

Audit meter · 0 / 3 red flags

Session extension · +75 minutes

Take the session to full length.

Three additional facilitated missions with their own debrief checkpoints. Run them straight after the online round to take this title to a 60–120 minute workshop. Every checkpoint is self-marking — tick what you can genuinely defend.

Every entry from year one now sits in the comparatives. Make the number again.

Tasks

01Book four new entries knowing the prior-year base is inflated.
02Track the compounding effect on cash conversion.
03Stop when the audit meter reaches two red flags and explain your exit.

Checkpoint · Mark the compounding read.

You identified cash conversion as the ratio that cannot be managed for two consecutive years.
You recognised that each year's entry raises the next year's required entry.

Debrief · discuss with your team

Q1.Which move produced the biggest bottom-line lift for the smallest audit signature?
Q2.Where do IFRS/GAAP updates in the last five years close these plays?