The role of external auditing in reducing creative accounting practices

The collapse of the huge international companies around the world increased the interest of provision of appropriate mechanisms which reduce practices that lead to manipulation in financial reports. Most of the researches report that these changes in financial statements which are practiced by the administrations of these companies and according to their desires, are behind their companies' sudden collapses, and that is what called the creative accounting. This study aims to support professional auditing domain. It shads the light on the role of the external auditing in reducing the creative accounting methods, and that is through inviting 94 accountants and auditors from different economic units in Duhok city to participate in a questionnaire designed by the researcher of the current study. The study concludes that external auditing has an impact in reducing creative accounting practices. One of the most important recommendations of the study , The need to hold seminars and training courses on the risks of creative accounting and its impact on the accounting and auditing, and the development of accounting culture between investors and users of accounting data to help them to discover the methods of creative accounting, and to ensure the independence and transparency of the auditor for its apparent impact in improving the credibility of accounting information. Keywords: Creative Accounting, External Audit, Financial Statements