Free Webinar Series: Financial Statement Fraud Post Pandemic

As presented at the 2021 Global ACFE Conference

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The world saw a wave of large-scale financial statement fraud cases coming out of the 2001-02 and 2008-09 economic downturns.  The COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 will have the making for another potential wave if accounting practices, processes and changes are not fully understood, vetted and kept in check.  Financial Statement fraud frequently begins in organizations with the manipulation of valuations, estimates, and reserves – anything that can be perceived as subjective or relies upon assumptions – to meet a target. Never in history have valuations and estimates been more subjective and easier to manipulate than now.  Under normal circumstances historical performance plays a significant role in these calculations.  But COVID presents a unique challenge for accountants determining these valuations: there are no historical performance measures showing the impact of a pandemic on the organization, its competitors, vendors or customers.  Simply, there is no history to reference or benchmark against, making the valuations and estimates even more subjective. This creates opportunity for an unprecedented amount of financial statement fraud.

This session uses real-life examples to examines areas of high risk for fraudulent manipulation in accounting valuations and estimates. And what accounting, audit, compliance and anti-fraud professionals should be questioning and examining to deter, prevent and detect financial statement fraud.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Why valuation, estimates and reserves provide opportunity for financial statement manipulation
• How the pandemic makes all valuations and estimates more subjective and provides opportunity and concealment for financial statement fraud
• What auditors, fraud examiners, and others should be reviewing and what questions they should be asking

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CPE: 1.0 | Field: Specialized Knowledge| Delivery: Group Internet Based
Level: Beginner | Prerequisites: None
Who Should Attend: Anyone interested in the latest fraud trends

Verracy is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.NASBARegistry.org.

Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, 505 E. Huntland Drive, Suite 380, Austin, Texas 78752 www.tsbpa.state.tx.us