Description

Fraud is extremely costly to our society, and the costs seem to be growing. The AICPA recently called forensic accounting one of the seven hot, new, "sizzling" career areas in accounting. It is estimated that there will be a shortage of between 25,000 and 50,000 professionals working in this area in the next few years in the U.S., so there are many opportunities for students knowledgeable in fraud to work in various federal agencies (e.g. FBI), major corporations, and professional service firms. The objectives of the forensics course are to familiarize students with several forms of fraud and the methods that fraud examiners use to prevent and detect it. Students will develop expertise in detecting financial statement fraud from the external auditor perspective, and learn how to use technology to detect fraud. They will acquire a basic understanding of how interviews are conducted in order to detect deception. The class will also provide a historical view of financial statement fraud. The tools used in the class will include interviewing, document examination, and public records searches, which will be helpful to students wanting to become consultants, auditors, tax professionals, managers, etc. The class, of course, includes an ethics component. It will help students to understand the common ethical dilemmas that they might encounter in the business world, and will help prepare them to resist pressure to commit fraud. Prerequisites: Must have significant previous accounting coursework including an auditing course. See academic advisor for enrollment eligibility.