Featured Blog Archives

Best Practices for Employers: Conflicts of Interest

by Kelly J. Todd | Jun 1, 2017

In my last blog, I discussed why corruption in the workplace always requires a conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest arise when employees have interests that may make it difficult to maintain one’s duty of loyalty to their company in an objective and effective manner. Quashing all conflicts of interest within businesses would be difficult to conduct; therefore, it is important to know how to reduce the risks inherent in conflicts of interest.

Quickbooks Audit Trail: Fraudulent Behavior Detection

by Lindsay H. Gill | Mar 7, 2017

The QuickBooks Audit Trail (or Audit Log, depending on the version) provides a log of each accounting transaction and denotes any additions, deletions or modifications affecting the integrity of the transaction. The tool captures every transaction from the time it is initially entered into QuickBooks, and tracks changes to the original entry, including transaction type, date, account, vendor/customer name, transaction amount, quantity, and price. The Audit Trail also reveals the User ID under which the entry, deletion or modification was made. The Audit Trail is a report built in the QuickBooks ReportCenter– all you have to do is click a button to generate the report.

The Give and the Take in Charitable Giving

by Ralph Q. Summerford | Dec 3, 2015

Charitable giving, while good with intent, is not always received as expected. Let’s say you and I give to a seemingly worthwhile charity. You may be surprised at who really takes from the charity – frequently, it’s the fundraisers and executives. Oftentimes the fundraisers and executives are one in the same, since many founders will leave the charity to start a consulting and fundraising business to contract with the charity. This is really where it begins to get out of hand.

Benefits of Seeking Independent Counsel in an Accounting Malpractice Lawsuit

by Ralph Q. Summerford | Nov 16, 2015

Most CPAs will never face the underbelly of an accounting malpractice lawsuit. Those who do, however, will say the challenges are something they never want to experience again in their lives.

A Lesson on Investigating Fraud from A Fictional Investigator

by Ralph Q. Summerford | Apr 3, 2015

As a frequent speaker on the subject of fraud, people often ask me, “How do you investigate fraud?” My answer is always the same: You look for the anomaly. To me, it sounds so simple until I step back and realize that most people cannot see the anomaly, although it is usually right in front of them.

Careful Out There – Ponzi Schemes are Alive and Well

by Ralph Q. Summerford | Oct 8, 2014

With all of the publicity that surrounded the Bernard Madoff, Scott Rothstein, ZeekRewards and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes, among many others, you would think that people would have by now received the message about Ponzi Schemes; how they work and how those investors lose their money.

When Crowdfunding Becomes Crowdfrauding

by Leslie P. Littrell | Sep 8, 2014

Crowdfunding is the relatively new process of using social media to receive small contributions from many different individual investors.

Summation Shortcuts

by Leslie P. Littrell | Jun 9, 2014

Rooting through and indexing large amounts of documents can be a complex and time-consuming task, placing undue burdens on investigators and clogging a case’s workload. This sort of complication can have negative effects on the timeline and outcome of a case. Enter...

Show Your Work

by Leslie P. Littrell | Mar 31, 2014

With the increase in accounting malpractice claims being filed today, it is of utmost importance that attorneys advise their clients on how to act in anticipation of litigation rather than being forced to react. It is becoming more a question of when than if auditors will be sued by one or more of their clients at some point during their career, and they need to be prepared at all times.

Cyber-security: Minimizing Internal Threats

by Kelly J. Todd | Jan 30, 2014

Like a magician’s sleight of hand, the barrage of headline news related to hackers and cyber criminals may divert attention away from the equally dangerous, but perhaps less obvious, threat to your corporate assets: employees. While trusted employees are moving, sharing, and exposing corporate data just to do their jobs, the malicious employee may be deliberately taking confidential information for personal gain or other nefarious reasons.

Know Your ABCs – Serving on Nonprofit Boards

by Ralph Q. Summerford | Dec 20, 2013

As professionals, many of us have had or will have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit organization. This can be a rewarding experience and a way to maintain civic involvement and a connection to the community. But what if the nonprofit organization is defrauded by an employee, or worse yet, by the CEO? This event can have serious ramifications, especially if the organization receives government grants, not to mention the effects on those whom the nonprofit benefits.

Let’s Get Digital: Putting Benford’s Law to Use in Fraud Examinations

by Lindsay H. Gill | Oct 15, 2013

A man by the name of Frank Benford. In the 1930s, physicist Benford developed a theory of leading digits, now known as Benford’s Law. Benford’s Law tells us that in a variety of data sets, the probability of occurrence of each digit (0 through 9) as the first digit in a number follows a certain distribution. That is, the digit 1 will occur with about a 30% frequency, followed by the digit 2 at 17.6%, through the digit 9 at 4.6%. See Figure 1.

INSIGHTS

Best Practices for Employers: Conflicts of Interest

Quickbooks Audit Trail: Fraudulent Behavior Detection

The Give and the Take in Charitable Giving

Benefits of Seeking Independent Counsel in an Accounting Malpractice Lawsuit

A Lesson on Investigating Fraud from A Fictional Investigator

Careful Out There – Ponzi Schemes are Alive and Well

When Crowdfunding Becomes Crowdfrauding

Summation Shortcuts

Show Your Work

Cyber-security: Minimizing Internal Threats

Know Your ABCs – Serving on Nonprofit Boards

Let’s Get Digital: Putting Benford’s Law to Use in Fraud Examinations

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