In financial reporting, companies can indeed use some legal accounting principles and adjustments to influence the presentation of financial statements. These measures are not illegal, but if used improperly, they may mislead investors and analysts. Here are some common legal means: 1. **Changes in accounting estimates**: Companies can make certain changes in estimates in accounting policies, such as depreciation methods, asset impairments, etc., which may affect the reporting of profits. 2. **Timing of revenue recognition**: Some companies may choose to advance or postpone the recognition of revenue under legal circumstances in order to show better financial performance in a specific period. 3. **Capitalization vs. Expensing**: Companies can choose to capitalize (record as assets) certain expenses instead of directly treating them as expenses, thereby improving profits in the short term. 4. **Non-recurring items**: By separating non-recurring gains and losses, companies can better highlight the performance of their core business and reduce external attention to one-time items. 5. **Use of financial ratio analysis**: By reasonably adjusting certain financial ratios, companies can show a healthier business situation to external investors, such as increasing earnings per share (EPS) through stock repurchases. Although these methods can optimize the presentation of financial statements to a certain extent, if companies deliberately use these methods to mislead investors or analysts, it may constitute fraud and lead to legal liability. Therefore, transparency and integrity are crucial principles in financial reporting, and investors and analysts should also strengthen their analysis and understanding of corporate financial statements to avoid being misled.