Beefing Up The Numbers

I recently read an article, A New Lease On Accounting, that has found restaurants, retailers, and cellular services are using their lease payments to make their bottom line look better. Why are all these companies trying to boost their bottom lines? The owners set incentives and benefits if a manager can reach a certain goal. Owners also try to make their company look more profitable than it really is. The incentive there is to increase the shareholder value and make the company look good to investors and creditors. I think that this is unprofessional. As an accountant the financial statements are to be stated fairly and objectively. Employees should receive bonuses only if profits are increased in an honest and ethical way. Punishments should also be affixed to deter employees from misstating the numbers.