cook the books
idiomatic phrase
informal
: to alter official accounting records in order to deceive or mislead
Congress cooked the books with phony spending cuts and accounting gimmickry to appear to reduce the federal deficit.—
Colleen O'Connor
Colleen O'ConnorExamples of cook the books in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Does this mean the BLS is ‘cooking the books’?
—Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
Data geeks spent most of 2025 worrying that President Donald Trump would cook the books on America’s most important numbers.
—Molly Smith, Bloomberg, 9 Jan. 2026
In the context of financial misconduct, if an executive has witnessed a parent being punished for embezzlement or cooking the books, the executive may be deterred from engaging in white-collar crimes to avoid experiencing a similar outcome.
—Joseph Brazel, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
If additional funding flows to jurisdictions with falling homelessness numbers, then stronger incentives exist to cook the books.
—Lawrence J McQuillan, Daily News, 15 Nov. 2025
That means tightening oversight of IGTs, requiring transparency in how states use federal Medicaid dollars, and closing the loopholes that allow California to cook the books like this.
—Elizabeth Hicks, Oc Register, 12 May 2025
In a little callback to last season’s episode with perfectionist crooked accountant Ashton Hayes (Keegan-Michael Key), Kaya uncovers his work cooking the books for Pupetta’s Restaurant.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Macy’s is in crisis mode after disclosing that an employee cooked the books for years, using unethical accounting practices to hide well over $100 million in expenses.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 26 Nov. 2024
In any case, the whistleblower alleged that one of the luxury label’s vendors revealed that Alexis required the vendor to cook the books and give the brand an invoice with lower unit prices than the actual unit prices that were paid.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
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Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
Data geeks spent most of 2025 worrying that President Donald Trump would cook the books on America’s most important numbers.
—Molly Smith, Bloomberg, 9 Jan. 2026
In the context of financial misconduct, if an executive has witnessed a parent being punished for embezzlement or cooking the books, the executive may be deterred from engaging in white-collar crimes to avoid experiencing a similar outcome.
—Joseph Brazel, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
If additional funding flows to jurisdictions with falling homelessness numbers, then stronger incentives exist to cook the books.
—Lawrence J McQuillan, Daily News, 15 Nov. 2025
That means tightening oversight of IGTs, requiring transparency in how states use federal Medicaid dollars, and closing the loopholes that allow California to cook the books like this.
—Elizabeth Hicks, Oc Register, 12 May 2025
In a little callback to last season’s episode with perfectionist crooked accountant Ashton Hayes (Keegan-Michael Key), Kaya uncovers his work cooking the books for Pupetta’s Restaurant.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Macy’s is in crisis mode after disclosing that an employee cooked the books for years, using unethical accounting practices to hide well over $100 million in expenses.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 26 Nov. 2024
In any case, the whistleblower alleged that one of the luxury label’s vendors revealed that Alexis required the vendor to cook the books and give the brand an invoice with lower unit prices than the actual unit prices that were paid.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Cook the books.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cook%20the%20books. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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