Forensic Accounting - Techniques for Tracing Asset Misappropriation (Video) (Course Id 2961)

1. Who is this course for?
This course is for CPAs, accountants, finance professionals, and others needing CPE who have a general working knowledge of financial statements and basic accounting principles and want a practical foundation in recognizing and tracing asset misappropriation.

2. What is this course about or what problem does this course solve?
This course teaches forensic accounting techniques for identifying and tracing asset misappropriation, including recognizing suspicious fund flows through shell companies, affiliates, pass-through entities, and concealed related parties, detecting cash-skimming patterns, and documenting findings with defensible asset-tracing schedules.

3. Where can the knowledge from this course be used?
The knowledge can be used when reviewing financial statements, bank records, corporate filings, transaction data, public records, and other independent sources to investigate suspicious transactions, corroborate findings, trace funds, and preserve supporting evidence.

4. Why is this course important to a CPA or Accountant?
This course is important to a CPA or accountant because accounting and finance professionals are often well positioned to notice questionable payments, unusual margin changes, unfamiliar related entities, and other warning signs that may indicate concealed relationships, unrecorded transactions, or broader asset-misappropriation schemes.

5. When is this course relevant or timely?
This course is relevant when routine accounting information reveals unusual patterns or warning signs that require further investigation, particularly when funds may be moving among multiple entities or when related-party relationships, cash-skimming activity, or transactions may be concealed.

6. How is a course like this consumed or used?
This is a 2.0-CPE-credit QAS self-study video course that includes practical examples, an illustrative case study, knowledge checks, nine review questions, and a 10-question final exam; participants must pass the final exam with a score of at least 70% to receive CPE credit.

Asset misappropriation is not always obvious. A questionable payment, unusual margin change, or unfamiliar related entity may appear insignificant on its own, but it can be the first sign of a larger scheme involving multiple entities, concealed relationships, or unrecorded transactions. Accounting and finance professionals are often well positioned to identify these warning signs, even without a formal background in forensic accounting.

This practical course introduces participants to forensic accounting techniques used to identify and trace asset misappropriation. The course explores how funds may move through shell companies, affiliates, pass-through entities, and concealed related parties. Participants will examine common cash-skimming methods, learn how different schemes leave different evidentiary patterns, and explore how bank records, corporate filings, transaction data, public records, and other independent sources can help corroborate findings.

The course also introduces the fundamentals of preparing well-supported tracing schedules and planning an investigation. Through practical examples, an illustrative case study, and knowledge checks, participants will see how routine accounting information can reveal unusual patterns and how those patterns can be followed through evidence. The emphasis is on building a practical foundation for recognizing suspicious activity, tracing transactions, preserving evidence, and documenting conclusions.

Course Learning Objectives

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

Major Topics

Multi Entity Fund Flows
 Concealed Related Party Indicators
 Cash Skimming Detection Methods
 Source Based Tracing Schedules
 Investigation Planning and Preservation