It is true that accounting information requires detailed analysis and specialized knowledge to interpret. This usually means a good understanding of the accounting model and accounting practices. However, this is true of most complex systems. For example, the lab reports you receive when visiting the doctor also require specialized knowledge to interpret, but I doubt you would describe them as “deceitful.” Why do the complexities of accounting imply deceit?
Professions like medicine, economics or pedagogics are based on empirical models or time-tested tools: the interpretative power is insider knowledge. Complexity does not imply anonymity, but every human power structure is based on anonymity. The Sumerian and Babylonian systems of economic accounting mark definitely the begin of human civilization, but they were grounded in a clear-cut ratio of monetary and natural units for counting wealth. The danger of forensic accounting increases when this original relationship is turned into abstract numerical data sets.
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