ESG Fraud, Disclosure and Audit Response (Video) (Course Id 2958)

1. Who is this course for?
This course is for CPAs, accountants, auditors, compliance professionals, finance teams, and others needing CPE who want an overview of how to identify, evaluate, investigate, and respond to ESG fraud and misstatement risks.

2. What is this course about or what problem does this course solve?
This course provides a practical, investigation-focused approach to ESG fraud and disclosure risk by showing participants how to convert ESG statements into testable claims, evaluate supporting evidence and controls, recognize common fraud patterns and red flags, and develop an appropriate audit or investigation response.

3. Where can the knowledge from this course be used?
The knowledge can be used when evaluating ESG disclosures and narratives, environmental and emissions claims, workforce and supply-chain reporting, governance representations, ESG investment-product claims, financial reporting implications, audit evidence, internal controls, investigations, remediation, and communications with management and boards.

4. Why is this course important to a CPA or Accountant?
This course is important to a CPA or accountant because ESG claims can create regulatory, financial-reporting, litigation, and reputational exposure, and the course teaches participants to assess whether those claims are supported by reliable evidence, consistent with operational reality and financial reporting, and appropriately addressed through auditing, investigation, and remediation.

5. When is this course relevant or timely?
This course is relevant when ESG claims, disclosures, metrics, investment policies, or related reporting processes must be evaluated for potential fraud or misstatement, particularly when concerns involve greenwashing, emissions and offsets, workforce or supply-chain reporting, governance processes, or inconsistencies between public ESG narratives and actual business practices.

6. How is a course like this consumed or used?
This is a 4.0-CPE-credit video course with no advance preparation required; participants work through the course content and review questions and must pass the 20-question final exam with a score of at least 70% within one year of purchase to receive CPE credit.

This course provides a practical, investigation-focused introduction to ESG fraud and misstatement risk. It translates broad environmental, social, and governance language into testable claims and shows how accountants, auditors, compliance professionals, and finance teams can evaluate the evidence, controls, and governance supporting those claims. The course examines recurring patterns such as greenwashing, manipulated emissions or offset claims, selective workforce reporting, weak supply-chain oversight, overstated governance processes, and inconsistencies between ESG investment policies and actual practice. Learners also apply a structured investigation playbook covering intake, scoping, document requests, interviews, analytics, site visits, working papers, remediation, and communication to management and the board. Real-world case studies illustrate how ESG claims can create regulatory, financial-reporting, litigation, and reputational exposure. The course concludes with a brief discussion of selected accounting and auditing considerations, including ASC 410, ASC 450, ASC 205-40, PCAOB AS 2710, and AU-C 720.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

· Explain ESG claims in plain language and distinguish aspirational statements from testable factual representations.

· Recognize common environmental, social, governance, and ESG investment-product fraud patterns and red flags.

· Evaluate the quality of evidence supporting ESG claims, including source data, calculations, approvals, and third-party assurance.

· Trace ESG information from source records through calculation, management review, and final disclosure.

· Design a proportionate audit or investigation response using scoping, document review, interviews, analytics, and physical observation.

· Assess whether ESG narratives are consistent with operational reality, financial reporting, and known business risks.

· Identify remediation steps that correct both the public statement and the underlying reporting process.

· Describe selected accounting and auditing considerations applicable to ESG-related obligations, contingencies, going concern, and other information.

Topics:

· ESG concepts explained through a fraud and misstatement lens

· Converting ESG statements into testable claims, metrics, evidence, and controls

· Applying the fraud triangle to ESG reporting

· Greenwashing, selective disclosure, emissions, offsets, and net-zero claims

· Safety, labor, diversity, supply-chain, and human-rights reporting risks

· Governance, board oversight, certifications, incentives, and ESG fund-process claims

· Disclosure channels, data lineage, ownership, evidence quality, and third-party assurance

· Audit and other-information considerations for ESG narratives

· Investigation intake, scoping, document requests, interviews, analytics, site visits, and working papers

· Remediation, disclosure correction, board reporting, culture, and a 90-day action plan

· Case studies involving asset-management practices, emissions manipulation, supply-chain labor claims, and known operational risks

· Selected financial-statement and auditing standards relevant to ESG matters