Hello Pa
Yes, cash flow from operations over the length of your investment time-horizon is one of the keys to investment success.

In answer to your question, yes, I have seen companies try and classify short-term liabilities as long-term liabilities in order to improve liquidity ratios. The list of accounting abuses, is, unfortunately, a long one. However, I have to say that in my career the number of companies engaged in accounting gimickry is pretty low. I would say around 5%. However, as a caveat, my experience is limited to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and China. I have not done much exploration outside of those countries.

Yours, in service,

Jason