Taking off from today's story about the ability to conceal property investment declines with accounting techniques, I direct your attention to the financial statements of Al Khazna Insurance Company and RAK Properties. Links here and here.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers points out in its introductory letter for Al Khazna that "The Group's advances for purchases of real estate are stated at cost of Dh57.9 million in the Statement of Financial Position. AT 31 March 2010, the management has not carried out a review of these advances to determine whether there is an indication that the individual advances may be impaired."

Translated: The company did not attempt to revalue the money they invested in off-plan property projects for the quarter.

While this is not a huge amount for the company, it still shows there can be an unwillingness to address these problems in the short term. Meanwhile, some companies - such as the embattled Damas International and DIFC Investments - have opted to take large losses now to avoid having to take them later.

At RAK Properties, the technique is to recognise more profit from gifted land from the Ras al Khaimah government every quarter. While this does not represent actual cash flowing into the company - in fact its flowing out faster than its coming in - it ensures that the company's statements show a profit.