Fraud Lens for Accountants: Expenses, Payroll, Cash and Tax (Course Id 2615)

• Who is this course for?
  CPAs, accounting managers, controllers, internal auditors, and finance professionals seeking CPE who want to strengthen fraud detection and prevention across payroll, expenses, petty cash, and tax processes.

• What is this course about or what problem does this course solve?
  It helps finance professionals understand that organizations lose about 5% of revenue annually to fraud—especially in daily-volume areas like payroll, expense reimbursements, petty cash, and tax transactions—and equips them to spot schemes, red flags, and effective controls.

• How can the knowledge from this course be used?
  Participants learn to identify fraud schemes, use red-flag cards and the Rapid Dilemma Tree, implement preventive and detective controls, and apply RPA/AI tools to enhance fraud detection in daily transactions.

• Why is this course important to a CPA, Accountant, or IRS Enrolled Agent?
  It helps fulfill California’s fraud CPE requirement and empowers accounting professionals to protect their organization’s financial integrity through strengthened controls and ethical decision-making.

• When is this course relevant or timely?
  Released and revised on August 9, 2025, it addresses modern fraud risks and integrates current automation technologies, making it highly relevant right now.

• How is a course like this consumed or used?
  Delivered as a self-study text-based NASBA QAS course: learners read the 46-page material, answer 9 review questions and 13 final exam questions (70% passing score), download and apply tools, and earn 2.5 CPE credits upon passing.

This comprehensive course is essential for finance professionals seeking to fortify their organization's defenses against financial wrongdoing. Uncover the alarming statistics: organizations lose approximately 5% of their revenue to fraud annually, with a significant portion occurring in routine, high-volume payroll processing, expense reimbursements, petty cash handling, and daily tax transactions.

This practical course equips you with essential skills to understand modern fraud schemes, spot red flags and subtle signs, select the most effective controls, and protect your organization's assets throughout payroll cycles, expense reimbursement processes, cash handling, and tax compliance. You'll master how to detect and prevent common fraud schemes in these critical financial areas, which are particularly vulnerable to both internal manipulation and external threats.

Through real-world scenarios and practical applications, you'll learn:

• Payroll Fraud Prevention: Identify ghost employees, falsified hours, unauthorized pay raises, and other schemes threatening your payroll integrity and employee trust
• Expense Reimbursement Protection: Recognize mischaracterized expenses, fictitious claims, duplicate submissions, and other clever techniques
• Cash Controls Implementation: Design and implement easy but powerful preventive and detective controls specifically tailored for petty cash handling
• Tax Fraud Detection: Spot sales tax/VAT evasion, payroll tax skimming, and other transactional tax schemes before they hit your organization

The course includes four valuable downloadable tools you can immediately apply in your daily work:

• Payroll Red-Flag Cards: Quick reference guide for identifying the eight most common fraud indicators in payroll processing
• Expense & Cash Red-Flag Cards: Eight warning signs of potential fraud in expense reports and petty cash transactions
• Tax Red-Flag Cards: Eight key indicators of transactional tax fraud that demand immediate attention
• Rapid Dilemma Tree for Daily Transactions: Four quick questions for making sound ethical decisions when facing questionable situations

Whether you're a CPA, accounting manager, controller, internal auditor, or finance professional, this course will enhance your ability to safeguard your organization's financial integrity throughout daily transaction processes. Join us to develop your "fraud lens" and become a stronger defender against fraud attempts in your payroll, expense, cash, and tax operations.

Please Note: These Fraud CPE credits satisfy the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) fraud requirement.

NASBA QAS - Text - NASBA Registry - 2615

Course Learning Objectives

1. Identify the most common fraud schemes in payroll, expense reimbursements, petty cash, and transactional tax processes.
2. Recognize key red flags that indicate possible payroll, expense, or tax fraud, using the provided Red-Flag Cards as a reference.
3. Implement practical preventive and detective controls to mitigate fraud risks in payroll, expenses, cash and tax operations.
4. Apply ethical decision-making tools—including the Rapid Dilemma Tree for Daily Transactions.
5. Leverage technology and automation (RPA/AI) to augment fraud prevention and detection in daily transactions.
6. Understand what is your real-life exposure to fraud in payroll, expense reimbursement, cash management and taxes.

Section 1
Introduction - Why Ethics in Transactions Matter

• Understand the significance of ethics in daily non-invoice transactions by examining fraud statistics.
• Develop a "fraud lens" perspective for identifying ethical issues in payroll, expense, cash and tax transactions.
• Learn to utilize practical fraud detection tools including the Rapid Dilemma Tree and Red-Flag Reference Cards to guide ethical decision-making in everyday accounting situations.

Section 2
Payroll Fraud Prevention

• Identify common payroll fraud schemes like ghost employees and falsified hours, and understand how they are concealed.
• Recognize warning signs of payroll fraud and use the Payroll Red-Flag Card to spot potential issues.
• Apply controls and best practices to prevent payroll fraud through proper segregation of duties and approval processes.
• Understand automation tools like RPA and AI for strengthening payroll controls.

Section 3
Expense Reimbursement and Petty Cash Fraud

• Understand common fraud schemes in expense reimbursements and petty cash, including how employees falsify expenses or steal cash.
• Learn to identify red flags that often indicate expense or petty cash fraud, with connections to the downloadable Expenses & Petty Cash Red-Flag Card.
• Discover effective controls to prevent and detect expense reimbursement and petty cash fraud.
• Explore how automation and technology help prevent and detect expense and petty cash fraud, complementing traditional manual controls.

Section 4
Tax Fraud in Daily Operations

• Understand the significance of common fraud schemes involving transactional taxes (including sales tax, GST, VAT, payroll deductions, transfer pricing).
• Develop a "fraud lens" perspective to identify red flags that suggest possible tax-related fraud in a company's transactions.
• Learn to utilize practical controls and practices to prevent or detect transactional tax fraud.
• Apply automation and technology tools to aid in tax compliance and fraud detection, complementing the manual controls discussed.

Section 1: Introduction - Why Ethics in Transactions Matter

Learning Objectives for Section 1

1.1 Course Introduction

1.2 Why Ethics in Daily Transactions Matter—The Bigger Picture

1.3 Why a “Fraud Lens” and Ethical Culture Are Essential

1.4 Downloadable Tools for Your Toolkit

Section 2: Payroll Fraud Prevention

Learning Objectives for Section 2

2.1 Common Payroll Fraud Schemes

Realistic Scenario

2.2 Red Flags for Payroll Fraud

Multiple Payroll Red Flags

2.3 Preventive and Detective Controls for Payroll

A. Preventive Controls in Payroll

B. Detective Controls in Payroll

Application of Controls

2.4 Manual, RPA, and AI Controls in Payroll

Manual vs. Automated Processes

AI Anomaly Detection

Technology Needs Oversight

Conclusion on Technology in Payroll

Section 2 Review Questions

Section 3: Expense Reimbursement and Petty Cash Fraud

Learning Objectives for Section 3

3.1 Common Schemes in Expense Reports and Petty Cash

A. Expense Reimbursement Schemes

B. Petty Cash Schemes

Realistic Scenario

3.2 Red Flags for Expense Reimbursements and Petty Cash

Multiple Expense and Cash Red Flags

3.3 Controls for Expense Reimbursements and Petty Cash

A. Expense Reimbursements Controls:

B. Petty Cash Controls

Application of Controls Scenario

3.4 Automation Snapshot: Expense Management Tech

Expense Management Software

Automated Approval Workflows

Digital Receipt Analysis (AI)

Integration with Corporate Cards and Travel Systems

Petty Cash Alternatives

Analytics and Dashboards

Conclusion on Applications for T&E and Petty Cash

Section 3 Review Questions

Section 4: Tax Fraud in Daily Operations

Learning Objectives for Section 4

4.1 Common Transactional Tax Fraud Schemes

Realistic Scenario

4.2 Red Flags for Tax Fraud

Multiple Tax Red Flags

4.3 Controls for Preventing Tax Fraud

Application of a Controls Mix

4.4 Automation Snapshot: Technology in Tax Compliance

Tax Software and ERP Integration

AI and Machine Learning in Taxes

Digital Tax Administration

Conclusion on Technology in Tax

Section 4 Review Questions

Section 5: Wrap-Up and Next Steps

5.1 Key Takeaways across Payroll, Expenses, and Tax

Common Schemes and Their Signs

Controls and Culture Matter Equally

Technology as a Force Multiplier

Rapid Dilemma Tree

Global Perspective and Adaptability

Reflection and Quick Action

Glossary of Key Terms