The Complete Guide to Spotting Accounting Fraud & Cover-Ups

by Maeda, Martha

• ISBN13: 9781601382122
• ISBN10: 160138212X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-01
• Publisher: Atlantic Pub Co

Summary

You will learn how to identify fraud, how to spot minor abnormalities that may hide fraud, how to spot forgeries, and how to prove your case, as well as what to immediately suspect and methods for uncovering scams. You will know what signs to look for, including excessive turnover of lawyers and auditors, changing professionals in the middle of a transaction, inconsistent information, and significant declines in stock prices. In addition, you will know how to recognize the common maneuvers, earnings manipulation, premature and fictitious revenue, overvalued assets, undervalued liabilities, bogus revenue, expenses that have been shifted to another period, overstating revenues, understating expenses, and the misuse and misdirecting of funds. This new book is filled with studies and discussions of fraud cases and how they could have been avoided, checklists for detecting accounts misdeeds, and advice from analysts, CFOs, and CPAs. This manual will be an indispensable aid for serious investors, industry pros, acquisition and merger managers, and small business owners alike. After reading this book you will no longer have to worry about accounting fraud and you can increase your company?s profits.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 9
Introduction	p. 13
Defining and Measuring Fraud	p. 19
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners	p. 20
Occupational Fraud	p. 21
The Scope of the Problem	p. 25
Who is Hurt by Fraud?	p. 26
Why Fight Fraud?	p. 28
Who Commits Fraud?	p. 31
Scientific Study of White-Collar Crime	p. 32
Gender, Age, Education, and Tenure	p. 44
Collusion	p. 45
Conditions Under Which Fraud Occurs	p. 45
Fraud Appears to be Addictive	p. 46
Fraud is Associative	p. 47
Fraud Schemes Are Not Seamless	p. 48
Psychopathic Behavior	p. 48
How Fraud is Detected	p. 51
Asset Misappropriation and Embezzlement	p. 61
Skimming	p. 66
Skimming red flags	p. 75
Cash Larceny	p. 79
Fraudulent Disbursements	p. 95
Billing Schemes	p. 96
Making Purchases with Company Accounts	p. 105
Payroll Schemes	p. 111
Check Tampering	p. 123
Corruption	p. 139
Conflicts of Interest	p. 142
Bribery	p. 145
Kickbacks and Illegal Gratuities	p. 147
Detecting Bribery and Corruption	p. 149
Corporate Espionage	p. 161
Insider Trading	p. 169
Financial Statement Fraud	p. 171
Financial Statement Fraud Perpetrators	p. 172
Motivation	p. 174
How Financial Statement Fraud is Committed	p. 176
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)	p. 177
Types of Financial Statement Schemes	p. 181
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002	p. 197
Detecting Accounting Fraud Within an Organization	p. 205
Techniques for Detecting Financial Statement Fraud	p. 210
Financial Statement Analysis	p. 214
Ratio Analysis	p. 217
Data Mining	p. 223
For Investors: Detecting Financial Statement Fraud in Public Financial Statements	p. 229
Where to Find Financial Statements	p. 230
Foreign companies	p. 234
Reading Annual Financial Statements	p. 235
Red Flags for Financial Statement Fraud	p. 248
Detecting Seven Types of Financial Statement Manipulations	p. 251
Recording Revenue Prematurely or Exaggerating Revenue	p. 253
Recording Non-Existent Revenue	p. 257
Boosting Income with One-Time Gains	p. 259
Shifting Current Expenses to an Earlier or Later Period	p. 261
Failing to Record or Underreporting Liabilities	p. 264
Shifting Current Revenues to a Later Period	p. 266
Shifting Future Expenses to the Current Period as a Special Charge	p. 267
Preventing Fraud in Your Company or Business	p. 269
Creating an Ethical Environment	p. 270
Antifraud Education	p. 273
Perception of Detection	p. 273
Internal Controls	p. 273
Employee Hotlines	p. 276
Conducting a Fraud Risk Assessment	p. 279
Who Should Participate in a Fraud Risk Assessment?	p. 280
Identifying Fraud Risk Factors	p. 281
Evaluating Fraud Risk	p. 282
Choosing and Implementing Strategies	p. 284
Conducting an Internal Fraud Investigation	p. 287
Deciding When and How to Conduct a Fraud Examination	p. 287
Confronting the Fraud Perpetrator	p. 289
Preparing for a Fraud Investigation	p. 289
Putting Together a Fraud Investigation Team	p. 291
Conducting the Fraud Investigation	p. 293
Results of a Fraud Investigation	p. 293
Finding a Professional Fraud Investigator	p. 294
Conclusion	p. 297
Useful Resources and Web Sites	p. 299
Information on Occupational Fraud	p. 299
Government and Regulatory Agencies	p. 301
Internet Security	p. 305
Financial Statement Research	p. 305
Media	p. 307
Conducting a Fraud Risk Assessment	p. 307
Glossary of Terms	p. 309
Bibliography	p. 319
Author Biography	p. 331
Index	p. 333
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