• The Skills of a Fraud Investigator

    How do I become a fraud investigator? What skills does a forensic accountant need? I get asked these questions a lot, so today I’m going to give my thoughts on some of the important qualifications and skills a fraud investigator […]

  • Interviews in Fraud Investigations

    Interviewing witnesses and suspects is a critical part of any fraud investigation. There are tons of resources out there to help fraud investigators learn how to be effective interviews. There are books, videos, courses, and certifications.  I’m going to quickly […]

  • Judgment of Management and Financial Statement Fraud

    With thousands of detailed accounting rules, how can there be financial statement fraud? There are areas of the financial statements that rely heavily on the judgment of management. They make estimates and decide how to apply the accounting rules. This […]

  • Things I Have Learned About Fraud

    After more than 25 years conducting fraud investigations, I have learned a lot about fraudsters, their methods, and the companies they work for. Hotlines cut fraud losses in half. Anonymous reporting mechanisms like fraud hotlines decrease the cost of internal […]

  • Questions to Ask When Starting a Fraud Investigation

    In order to properly plan a fraud investigation, a fraud examiner needs to be able to ask good questions that extract valuable information about what needs to be done. The specific questions vary with each investigation, but the following are […]

  • Getting Background Information on Company Owners and Executives

    Have you ever wanted or needed to do a background check on an owner or executive of a company? If you’re considering investing in a public or private company, you may want to find out information on the people who […]

  • Is It “Creative Accounting” or Fraud?

    Companies engaged in financial statement fraud sometimes use creative phrases to legitimize or cover up what they’re doing. Examples include: Aggressive accounting – We’re following the rules, but pushing the limits to make the financial statements look as good as […]

  • How Credible Are Fraud Tips?

    Companies rely heavily on reports about questionable behavior from employees, customers, vendors, or other outside parties. Tips are the most common way that fraud is detected by companies, so any credible tip should be taken very seriously. How does a […]

  • Work Programs in Fraud Investigations

    If you’re familiar with the process of a financial statement audit, you know all about audit work programs. They’re basically the checklists and guides that auditors use to make sure they follow all the required steps for auditing the financial […]

  • What’s the Big Deal About Financial Statement Fraud

    The manipulation of a company’s financial statements does not occur as often as asset misappropriation schemes like payroll fraud, check kiting, or inventory theft. And the losses from financial statement fraud aren’t readily apparent to most people. When money is […]