The main objective of this research is to identify the reality of implementing creative
accounting techniques in Syrian shareholding companies, and evaluating the procedures of
detecting them by the external auditor. To achieve this objective, a fi
eld study is conducted
by using a questionnaire to collect data from auditors accredited by the Finance Ministry
and authorized to audit shareholding companies. The questionnaire is distributed to 300 out
of 493 auditors. 125 copies are returned, and 115 of them are suitable for analysis. This
study concludes that Syrian shareholding companies implement techniques of creative
accounting with varying rates. compared to other techniques, Off-Balance Sheet Financing
technique is ranked first in implementation. This research also shows that the external
auditor does pay enough attention to implementing the procedures of detecting creative
accounting in Syrian shareholding companies.
