The main objective of this study is to detect signs
of under-invoicing by applying Benford‘s 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‘s 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.
