Using a distributed ledger like R3's Corda (https://www.corda.net https://www.corda.net) will do what you say: prevent "cooking the books" and make transactions

Using a distributed ledger like R3's Corda (https://www.corda.net https://www.corda.net) will do what you say: prevent "cooking the books" and make transactions public and audit-able. What the blockchain does that Corda does not is: the ability for anyone to be a transaction validator. What this ability gives the network is censorship resistance. Basically because anyone can validate transactions, no central body can say what should and should not go in the ledger.