Description

From Enron and WorldCom in the early 2000s to Wirecard and FTX in recent years, the risk of fraud in an audit remains high, and the potential loss to the public has only increased. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) annual reports find that fraud is potentially lurking in all businesses, including not-for-profit organizations. It often goes undetected for years, and, when uncovered, management and the board may question why an auditor did not identify it – even though most corporate frauds are identified by internal personnel. Still, the auditor’s responsibility in a financial statement audit is to assess risk and perform sufficient procedures to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement due to fraud (or error). However, failure to perform an adequate fraud risk assessment and report deficiencies in internal control, such as a lack of segregation of duties, can leave a firm vulnerable.

This course will discuss the audit procedures that should be performed in accordance with AU-C §240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, as recently amended; best practices in performing fraud risk assessment procedures; when and how to report control deficiencies noted in an audit; and the most frequent types of fraud found in small to mid-sized entities along with internal controls that could be implemented to help prevent and detect them. We will also look at various cyber fraud schemes and how they might be prevented or detected, the use of analytics as fraud risk procedures, and assessments of fraud risk in a Single Audit.

Fraud is now more complicated than ever. From deepfakes to complex denial-of-service attacks, auditors have more to consider in their risk assessment than they did even five years ago. This course features case studies and detailed illustrations to help auditors know what to look for and how to respond to potential fraud in their audits.

Instructor: Marci Thomas, CPA

Target Audience

CPAs in either public or private practice with accounting, financial reporting, or attest responsibilities

Course Objectives

Understand the drivers of fraud risk in a financial statement audit

Conduct procedures required by professional literature to assess the risk of fraud

Develop discussion points to review with management and those charged with governance

Identify the main types of fraud that occur in small to mid-sized companies and develop internal controls responsive to those risks

Evaluate fraud case examples and identify how fraud occurred and how it could have been prevented or detected

Subjects

The fraud landscape in the United States

Fraud risk procedures as updated by recently issued standards

Most likely fraud types found in small to mid-sized entities

Internal controls to prevent and detect fraud

What to do when fraud is identified or suspected

Case studies based on recent frauds

Cyber fraud schemes and how to prevent and detect them

Analytics that can be used as fraud risk procedures

Assessing the risk of grant fraud in a Single Audit