Fictitious Revenue
Definition
Revenue recorded for a transaction that did not occur at all, or that involved a related party cycling funds to simulate customer payments. No genuine economic activity underlies the entry.
- Core trait
- Transaction never occurred, or was a related-party round-trip
- Evidence gap
- No genuine economic activity behind the entry
- Category
- A revenue recognition fraud scheme
Common questions
How does fictitious revenue differ from aggressive but legitimate revenue recognition timing?+
Timing schemes recognise real revenue in the wrong period, whereas fictitious revenue records a sale, shipment, or service with no underlying economic substance at all, so there is no real transaction to eventually true up.
What is a common way related parties are used to fabricate revenue?+
Funds are cycled between related entities to simulate a customer payment, so cash appears to move in exchange for a sale even though nothing of value actually changed hands and the money often returns to its origin.
Related terms
- Bill-and-Hold
- An arrangement where title passes and revenue is recorded even though the seller retains physical possession of the goods at the buyer's...
- Bill-and-Hold Arrangement
- A transaction in which a seller invoices a customer for goods that remain physically on the seller's premises at the customer's request....
- Channel Stuffing
- A scheme in which a company ships excess inventory to distributors or retailers near a reporting period's end to record revenue, knowing...
- Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
- A ratio measuring how long, on average, a company takes to collect payment after a sale: (accounts receivable / revenue) x 365....
- IFRS 15 / ASC 606
- The converged international (IFRS 15) and US (ASC 606) standards that replaced predecessor revenue rules from 2018. Both apply a five-step model:...
- Performance Obligation
- Under IFRS 15 and ASC 606, the distinct promise to transfer a good or service to a customer. Revenue can only be...
- Premature Revenue Recognition
- Recording revenue in an earlier period than the standards permit, typically by treating an uncompleted performance obligation as satisfied. The transaction is...
- Round-Tripping
- A circular transaction in which cash or assets flow between two or more related parties so that each records revenue without any...
- Side Letter
- An informal or undisclosed written agreement between a buyer and seller that modifies the terms of the primary contract. Side letters are...