This course provides an overview of common fraudulent practices aimed at inflating revenue and earnings, as well as manipulating expenses. It examines the tactics used by some companies to misstate revenue, manage earnings artificially, and underreport or misclassify expenses. Understanding these fraudulent schemes allows auditors to better identify signs of manipulation.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Identify common methods of manipulating revenue and earnings in financial statements
Recognize indicators of inflating earnings with non-recurring items and overstating deferred revenue
Distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent journal entries
Recognize indicators of backdating transactions and how they can impact financial reporting
Identify fraudulentactivities that involve understating expenses and liabilities in financial statements
Recognize common schemes for misclassifying financial statement items and manipulating reserves
Distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent lease classifications under accounting standards
Major Topics
Revenue and Earnings Manipulation
Non-Recurring Items
Detecting Improper Use of Non-Recurring Items
Overstating Deferred Revenue
Common Mistakes in Deferred Revenue
Intentional Mistakes in Deferred Revenue
Detecting Intentional Misstatements in Deferred Revenue
Backdating Transactions
Detecting Backdating
Fraudulent Journal Entries
Detecting Fraudulent Journal Entries
Misclassifying Financial Statement Items
Improper Use of Reserves
Misrepresenting Lease Classifications
Structuring Transactions to Avoid Regulatory or Accounting Thresholds
