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Synopsis How reliable and trustworthy are corporate books of accounts? Why are public companies, banks and financial institutions going bankrupt without prior and proper knowledge of shareholders and creditors? Aren't the auditors – internal and external – obliged to know or find out and report the true financial picture of the organisation for the benefit of stakeholders?

The Price: When Bookkeeping Means Bookcooking critically examines the issues involving corporate financial corruption, or 'bookcooking', in connivance with auditors, bankers, credit rating agencies and the government.

The treatise is based on a specific accounting fraud case of a public company, Satyam Computers, a stock exchange listed giant both in India and the US. It is the outcome of relentless research made at the corporate's archives and interviews conducted with insiders. It is also an analysis of the roles played by auditors vis-à-vis the regulating authorities, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and so on.

It is a journalist's account of a developing local story with international implications, making specific comparisons with global conglomerates such as Enron, Lehman Brothers et al who had a similar modus operandi.