Assessing the Risk of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit

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Instructor

Michael
Brand

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Michael Brand

Bio

Michael L. Brand, CPA, CGMA is currently an A & A partner in the firm of BMSS, LLC CPAs and Advisors. He received his B.S. in accounting from the University of North Alabama and has been in the practice of public accounting for over 30 years.

Known as a nationally acclaimed, accounting industry expert and speaker, Michael (Mike) has been involved in all aspects of public accounting, with an emphasis in providing accounting, auditing and review services to clients in the for-profit, nonprofits and governmental sectors.

He is also involved in various committees at both the state and national levels. He is a former member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Professional Ethics Executive Committee, is the past chair of the AICPA’s Accounting and Review Services Committee and the Alabama Society of CPA’s Peer Review Committee and is the current Chair for the ASCPA. Furthermore, Mike teaches continuing education classes across the country for state societies and individual firms and has received the AICPA’s Outstanding Discussion Leader Award multiple times along with the ASCPA’s Thomas A. Ratcliffe Outstanding Discussion Leader Award.

In addition to teaching, Mike regularly speaks at conferences nationwide and in various other countries. He conducts peer reviews across the United States and was formerly on the Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. He is the current co-chair of the Engage Conference (the AICPA’s largest conference held over multiple days with thousands of attendees).

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners says that there is fraud 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 the auditor did not identify it. 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 lack of segregation of duties can leave a firm vulnerable. This course will discuss the audit procedures that should be performed in accordance AU-240 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-size entities along with internal controls that could be implemented to help prevent and detect them. This course features case studies.

Learning Objectives

Understand the drivers of fraud risk in a financial statement audit
Conduct procedures required by professional literature to asses 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-size companies and develop internal controls to be responsive to those risks
Evaluate fraud case examples and identify how fraud occurred and how it could have been prevented or detected

Major Topics

Fraud landscape in the United States
Fraud risk procedures as updated by recently issued standards
Most likely fraud types found in small to midsize entities
Internal controls to prevent and detect fraud
What to do when fraud or suspected fraud is identified
Case studies based on recent frauds

CPE Credits Available

8 CPE

8: Accounting & Auditing

Things to Know About This Course

Course Level

Basic

Professional Area of Focus

A & A

Prerequisites

None

Advanced Preparation

None

Intended Audience

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

Provider

Surgent McCoy CPE