{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T04:40:05Z","timestamp":1777351205109,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,1]],"date-time":"2024-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733011200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The main objective of this study is to detect signs of under-invoicing by applying Benford\u2019s law to the Portuguese restaurant sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the context of government support policies. Between 2020 and 2021, the State adopted several measures to provide additional support to companies that have seen a significant decrease in their activity, namely, a reduction of at least 25% in turnover. A literature review was carried out focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the companies under analysis, the support measures adopted by the State and, finally, a survey of the theoretical component relating to the application of Benford\u2019s law in accounting. The data were collected from the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System database for 2019, 2020, and 2021. After analysing the data, significant deviations are observed in several digits, practically for all the compliance tests, both in the analysis of the first digit test and in the analysis of the first two digits test. The results therefore show signs of under-invoicing in 2020 by the analysed companies, which suffered, on average, a 79% reduction in turnover.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2478\/ejthr-2024-0020","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,7]],"date-time":"2025-01-07T07:21:06Z","timestamp":1736234466000},"page":"273-284","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Application of Benford\u2019s law to detect signs of under-invoicing in companies in the restaurant sector during the COVID-19 pandemic"],"prefix":"10.2478","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0000-0000-0001","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Martins","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a , Bragan\u00e7a , Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5168-8795","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jorge","family":"Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidade de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Aplicada em Gest\u00e3o (UNIAG), Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a , Bragan\u00e7a , Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9862-6068","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clara","family":"Vaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Digitaliza\u00e7\u00e3o e Rob\u00f3tica Inteligente (CeDRI), Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a , Bragan\u00e7a , Portugal"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026042722154424479_j_ejthr-2024-0020_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Afonso, V., & Calisto, M. 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Quais os impactos da COVID-19 nas empresas? [What are the impacts of COVID-19 on companies?].https:\/\/www.bportugal.pt\/page\/quais-os-impactos-do-covid-19-na-eco-nomia-portuguesa"},{"key":"2026042722154424479_j_ejthr-2024-0020_ref_005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burgstahler, D., & Dichev, I. (1997). Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24(1), 99\u2013126. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0165-4101(97)00017-7","DOI":"10.1016\/S0165-4101(97)00017-7"},{"key":"2026042722154424479_j_ejthr-2024-0020_ref_006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Campobasso, F., Borgia, M. S., & Albergo, F. (2023). Facing the storm: Lessons from corporate social responsibility during the covid pandemic. 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