Profiling Financial Fraud

This month’s installment in The CPA Journal’s ongoing Millennium Series investigates fraudulent financial reporting and finds patterns that auditors can use to prevent problems before they happen. A recent study by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) identified six areas where fraudulent financial reporting problems were most commonly found.

Understanding these characteristics and patterns can help auditors reduce their possible exposure to fraudulent financial reporting. Every aspect of the audit process is now under increased regulatory and public scrutiny. A systematic way to know “what to look for”—based on more than the audit team’s analysis and intuition—can make a big difference for both the auditor and the client.

The CPA Journal is broadly recognized as an outstanding, technical-refereed publication aimed at public practitioners, management, educators, and other accounting professionals. It is edited by CPAs for CPAs. Our goal is to provide CPAs and other accounting professionals with the information and news to enable them to be successful accountants, managers, and executives in today's practice environments.