This course provides an overview of the various forms of financial fraud and manipulation that can distort financial statements and mislead stakeholders. It addresses tactics used by some companies to artificially inflate revenue, understate liabilities, mismanage assets, and misreport disclosures. By understanding these fraudulent practices, auditors can better identify these types of frauds and ensure more accurate and transparent financial reporting for stakeholders.
Publication Date: March 2025
Topics Covered
- Revenue and Earnings Manipulation
- Expense and Liability Fraud
- Asset and Equity Mismanagement
- Disclosure and Reporting Fraud
Learning Objectives
- Identify common methods of manipulating revenue and earnings in financial statements
- Recognize indicators of inflating earnings with non-recurring items and overstating deferred revenue
- Explain how to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent journal entries
- Recognize indicators of backdating transactions and how they can impact financial reporting
- Identify fraudulent activities that involve understating expenses and liabilities in financial statements
- Recognize common schemes for misclassifying financial statement items and manipulating reserves
- Explain how to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent lease classifications under accounting standards
- Identify fraud schemes that involve overstating assets and manipulating equity
- Recognize fraud indicators related to depreciation, amortization, and stock option accounting
- Explain how to differentiate between legitimate and fraudulent related party transactions
- Identify indicators of misleading disclosures and misreporting of foreign currency transactions
- Recognize red flags indicating failure to disclose contingent liabilities
- Explain how to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent consolidation practices
Level
Overview
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Auditing (4 hours)
Program Prerequisites
None
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
Kelen Camehl
Kelen is a recognized author and reviewer of CPE courses and has authored over 145 courses (350 CPE credit hours) covering a range of accounting, auditing, financial reporting, regulatory, and ethics topics. His courses are available for purchase from many online CPE providers including the AICPA. Kelen remained involved in CPA exam content development for nearly 10 years and authored more than a thousand multiple choice questions for various sections of the CPA exam. He also serves as an Editorial Advisor for the AICPA’s "Journal of Accountancy".
Kelen has nearly 20 years of progressive finance and accounting experience. He currently serves as an Accounting Policy Advisor with HP. Prior to HP, he served in multiple accounting roles in the oil & gas industry with ConocoPhillips including technical accounting policy, SOX compliance, and internal audit. He also gained public accounting experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers, working with various clients in the energy, electric, power, gas, and utility sectors.