Forensic services & fraud news and resources

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August 1, 1999

Another Viewpoint on Health Care Plans

As an avid reader of the JofA, I have come to trust it to provide me with accurate and useful information. Having worked in the health care insurance industry for the past six years, I was dismayed at the misinformation presented in a recent article titled “Ask Your Health Plan

July 1, 1999

About the Publisher

July 1999 Vol. 188 No. 1 Highlights Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Colleen Katz ExecutiveEditor Barbara J. Shildneck Managing Editor Elizabeth Uva Senior Editors Katharine W. Coveleski Peter D. Fleming John von Brachel Michael Hayes Emily S. Plishner Stanley Zarowin Senior News Editor Robert Tie Associate News Editor Mavis C. Allen Assistant

May 1, 1999

I’ve Got Your Number

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BENFORD’S LAW PROVIDES A DATA analysis method that can help alert CPAs to possible errors, potential fraud, manipulative biases, costly processing inefficiencies or other irregularities. A PHYSICIST AT GE RESEARCH LABORATORIES in the 1920s, Frank Benford found that numbers with low first digits occurred more frequently in the

April 1, 1999

When Your Customer Goes Belly-Up

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BANKRUPTCY LAW HAS SOME UNPREDICTABLE consequences. If a customer has physical possession of its supplier’s property, ownership may be debated. Conversely, a supplier may reclaim some goods it has already shipped. If a supplier files a formal proof of claim, it may waive other rights. THE COURT MAY

April 1, 1999

The CPA As Sleuth: Working the Fraud Beat

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AS PROFESSIONALS WHO KNOW THEIR WAY through a financial tangle, CPAs can be invaluable in a fraud investigation-if they know the legal basics. A CPA SHOULD ADVISE THE CLIENT to hire a lawyer if a fraud is suspected specifically to establish privilege of information. He or she should

August 1, 1998

Tax Brief. Business/Industry: New pension plan self-correction programs.

BUSINESS/INDUSTRY New Pension Plan Self-Correction Programs The IRS consolidated four correction programs for tax qualified plans into a single Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). Self-correction programs allow employers that sponsor tax-qualified pension plans to correct failures or defects that otherwise might threaten a plan’s qualification. Revenue procedure 98-12 provides

May 1, 1998

The CPA as Fraud-Buster

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SAS NO. 82 PROVIDES guidance about auditors’ responsibilities in detecting and reporting possible fraud. Practitioners need to examine the presence of risk factors, assess the risk of material misstatement due to fraud, develop a response, document the performance of their assessment and meet their communication responsibilities. MANAGEMENT HAS

April 1, 1997

The Auditor and Fraud

Editor’s note: The information contained in this article is specific to the auditing and assurance landscape on or about the date it was authored, including references to Generally Accepted Auditing Standards in effect at that time. For up-to-date information as of September 2023, please refer to the JofA article “A Refresher on Fraud and

April 1, 1997

Litigation Services: Standards and Ethics

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY LITIGATION SERVICES continue to grow in popularity, and practitioners must understand the standards and ethics that govern them. MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES standards govern litigation services. These include serving the client interest, understanding with client and communication with client. AUDITING STANDARDS, ATTESTATION standards and accounting and review services standards

March 1, 1997

Who Got Sued?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AUDITOR LITIGATION RESEARCH SHOWS that auditors encounter a significant level of weak claims and engage in costly activities to dispose of these weak claims. DEFENDING AGAINST WEAK LAWSUITS is a difficult, time-consuming and financially burdensome experience. The average weak claim costs $3.7 million to defend against and 3.7

February 1, 1997

SEC leadership

SEC Leaders Discuss the Value of Independence S enior officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission told members attending the American Institute of CPAs annual Conference on current SEC Developments in Washington, D.C., that audit firms must strive to ensure that audit quality will not be compromised and that auditor