" Accrual accounting lets firms account for imaginary profits in real time, even when there is no guarantee it will ever materialize in the future. Two essential conditions make this type of accounting possible: One, the asset has to be illiquid, and two, the asset has to be difficult to price. This makes the assumed value of the asset impossible to validate and refute, which essentially allows the fund manager to mark the value of the asset according to his or her imagination. "

― Tan Liu , The Ponzi Factor: The Simple Truth About Investment Profits