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Navigating Audit Challenges - Fraud, Illegal Acts, and Ongoing Auditor Responsibilities (Course Id 2895)

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Author:

Kelen Camehl, CPA, MBA

Course Length:

Pages: 221 ||| Word Count: 10,3079 ||| Review Questions: 48 ||| Final Exam Questions: 80

CPE Credits:

16.0

IRS Credits:

0

Price:

$125.95

Passing Score:

70%

Course Type:

Text
Navigating Audit Challenges - Fraud, Illegal Acts, and Ongoing Auditor Responsibilities - CPE course for CPAs

Technical Designation:

Technical

Field Of Study:

Auditing

Approved Audience:

NASBA QAS - NASBA Registry

Key Takeaways:

This comprehensive course examines how financial statements and operating cash flow can be manipulated and teaches auditors how to identify fraud indicators and respond to potential illegal acts.

  • Covers how revenue, expense, asset, disclosure, classification, timing, and structured transaction schemes can be used to manipulate financial statements and operating cash flow.
  • Teaches auditors how to identify fraud indicators and respond appropriately when potential illegal acts are discovered.
  • Explains how to communicate fraud and illegal act findings to audit committees and address ongoing auditor responsibilities after issues are identified.
  • Worth 16.0 CPE credits in Auditing as a self study course, requiring an 80 question final exam preceded by 48 review questions (optional) and a 70% passing score.

Frequently Asked Questions:

The Navigating Audit Challenges Fraud, Illegal Acts, and Ongoing Auditor Responsibilities course combines fraud schemes, illegal acts, audit committee communications, post audit responsibilities, and comfort letters into a single comprehensive audit course.

This course identifies schemes involving revenue and expense manipulation, cash flow reclassification, and structured transactions used to distort financial statements.

This course defines illegal acts and distinguishes them from changes in accounting principles, estimates, and error corrections.

This course suits CPAs who want fraud, audit committee communication, post audit, and comfort letter topics addressed together in one comprehensive engagement rather than as separate shorter courses.

This course covers reclassifying financing inflows as operating cash flow and other timing based techniques used to distort liquidity metrics.

This course is a Technical, self study text course worth 16.0 CPE credits in Auditing. The course includes an 80 question final exam preceded by 48 review questions (optional), requiring a 70% passing score within one year. CPEthink is approved by NASBA as a CPE sponsor and lists this course on the NASBA site as a courtesy for CPAs to search https://nasba.org.

Yes, Navigating Audit Challenges Fraud, Illegal Acts, and Ongoing Auditor Responsibilities provides sixteen hours of CPE credit in fraud prevention, detection, or reporting, which counts toward the four hour fraud CPE requirement imposed by the California Board of Accountancy (http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba) on CPAs subject to the accounting and auditing, governmental auditing, or preparation engagement CE requirement.

Description:

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the auditor’s responsibilities in complex financial reporting environments, with a strong focus on how companies manipulate financial statements and operating cash flow through revenue and expense schemes, asset and disclosure distortions, classification and timing tactics, structured transactions, and misleading presentation, including non-GAAP measures. Building on that foundation, the course examines how auditors respond to fraud indicators and potential illegal acts, including evaluating their impact and communicating appropriately with management and the audit committee. It also covers required audit committee communications throughout the engagement, auditor responsibilities for engagement deficiencies and the subsequent discovery of facts after report issuance, and the purpose, scope, and limitations of comfort letters in securities offerings.

Usage Rank:

57500

Release:

2026

Version:

1.0

Prerequisites:

None.

Experience Level:

Overview

Additional Contents:

Complete, no additional material needed.

Additional Links:

Advance Preparation:

None.

Delivery Method:

QAS Self Study

Intended Participants:

Anyone needing Continuing Professional Education (CPE).

Revision Date:

23-Jun-2026

NASBA Course Declaration:

Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase and with a minimum passing grade of 70% or better to receive CPE credit unless otherwise noted on the Course History page (i.e. California Ethics must score 90% or better). After logging in click on the Course History links on your My Courses page for the Begin date and Expire date for the Final Exam.

Keywords:

Navigating Audit Challenges - Fraud, Illegal Acts, and Ongoing Auditor Responsibilities - CPE course for CPAs

Learning Objectives:

Chapter 1

Revenue, Expenses, and Liability Manipulation Schemes

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify common methods of manipulating revenue and earnings in financial statements
  • Recognize indicators of inflating earnings with non-recurring items and overstating deferred revenue
  • Distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent journal entries
  • Recognize indicators of backdating transactions and how they can impact financial reporting
  • Identify fraudulent activities that involve understating expenses and liabilities in financial statements
  • Recognize common schemes for misclassifying financial statement items and manipulating reserves
  • Distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent lease classifications under accounting standards


Chapter 2

Asset, Equity, and Disclosure-Based Fraud

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify fraud schemes that involve overstating assets and manipulating equity
  • Recognize fraud indicators related to depreciation, amortization, and stock option accounting
  • Differentiate between legitimate and fraudulent related party transactions
  • Identify indicators of misleading disclosures and misreporting of foreign currency transactions
  • Recognize red flags indicating failure to disclose contingent liabilities
  • Distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent consolidation practices


Chapter 3

Cash Flow Manipulation Through Classification and Timing 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify ways cash flows can be misclassified to inflate operating cash flow
  • Recognize the impact of reclassifying financing activities on liquidity metrics
  • Differentiate between legitimate and manipulative classification of receivables and supplier finance
  • Determine how classification choices affect financial statement analysis
  • Identify methods for accelerating inflows and delaying outflows
  • Recognize short-term window dressing techniques
  • Determine potential long-term effects of timing-based strategies
  • Distinguish routine cash management from timing-based manipulation 

Chapter 4

Structuring and Disclosure Techniques Used to Inflate Operating Cash Flow

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify transactions designed to create the appearance of higher operating cash flow
  • Recognize how contract structuring, third-party arrangements, and staged payments affect reported liquidity
  • Determine when prepayments, deposits, or settlements may distort operating cash flow
  • Differentiate legitimate transaction design from engineered arrangements intended to manipulate liquidity
  • Identify disclosure practices that obscure cash flow trends
  • Recognize aggregation and line-item presentation choices affecting liquidity
  • Determine the impact of non-GAAP measures on interpretation
  • Distinguish presentation from techniques that conceal cash flow issues

Chapter 5

Identifying and Responding to Illegal Acts

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify types of illegal acts auditors may encounter and their impact on financial statements
  • Recognize signs that may indicate possible illegal acts in audit evidence
  • Distinguish illegal acts from changes in accounting principles, estimates, and error corrections
  • Determine appropriate responses when a possible or detected illegal act arises
  • Select proper methods for communicating findings to management and the audit committee
  • Recall key guidance from PCAOB AS 2405 and Auditing Interpretation AI 13

Chapter 6

Communicating Effectively with the Audit Committee

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Recognize the auditor’s responsibilities and key communications to the audit committee
  • Identify matters the audit committee should receive to support financial reporting oversight
  • Recognize when changes to the audit plan are needed and their impact on the engagement
  • Determine how the work of internal auditors, other personnel, or specialists is used in the audit
  • Distinguish among significant and critical accounting policies as well as alternative treatments
  • Recognize disagreements with management and audit difficulties that require communication

Chapter 7

Post-Audit Responsibilities and Engagement Follow-Up

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Recognize the auditor’s responsibilities and key communications to the audit committee
  • Identify matters the audit committee should receive to support financial reporting oversight
  • Recognize when changes to the audit plan are needed and their impact on the engagement
  • Determine how the work of internal auditors, other personnel, or specialists is used in the audit
  • Distinguish among significant and critical accounting policies as well as alternative treatments
  • Recognize disagreements with management and audit difficulties that require communication

Chapter 8

Understanding Comfort Letters in Practice

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  • Identify the purpose of comfort letters and the financial information they cover
  • Distinguish between negative assurance and positive assurance
  • Determine appropriate procedures for audited, unaudited, and pro forma information
  • Recognize subsequent changes, capsule information, and financial forecasts included in comfort letters
  • Select matters accountants can comment on and those outside their expertise
  • Differentiate how comfort letters support underwriter due diligence 

Course Contents:

Chapter 1 - Revenue, Expenses, and Liability Manipulation Schemes

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Non-Recurring Items

Detecting Improper Use of Non-Recurring Items

Overstating Deferred Revenue

Common Mistakes in Deferred Revenue

Intentional Mistakes in Deferred Revenue

Detecting Intentional Misstatements in Deferred Revenue

Backdating Transactions

Detecting Backdating

Fraudulent Journal Entries

Detecting Fraudulent Journal Entries

Misclassifying Financial Statement Items

Improper Use of Reserves

Misrepresenting Lease Classifications

Structuring Transactions to Avoid Regulatory or Accounting Thresholds

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 2 - Asset, Equity, and Disclosure-Based Fraud

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Manipulating Depreciation or Amortization Schedules

Related Party Transaction Fraud

Creating Shell Companies for Fraudulent Transactions

Manipulating Stock Option Accounting

Failure to Consolidate Related Entities

Failure to Disclose Contingent Liabilities

Misreporting Foreign Currency Gains or Losses

Misleading Disclosures

Best Practices for Ethical Financial Reporting

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 3 – Cash Flow Manipulation Through Classification and Timing

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Reclassifying Financing Inflows as Operating Cash Flow

Supplier Finance & Reverse Factoring

Receivables Factoring Classification Issues

Timing-Based Cash Flow Techniques

Accelerating Cash Inflows

Delaying Cash Outflows

Window Dressing Strategies

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 4 – Structuring and Disclosure Techniques Used to Inflate Operating Cash Flow

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Contract Structuring for Cash Flow Appearance

Third-Party and Related-Party Transaction Engineering

Prepayments, Deposits, and Structured Settlements

Red Flags

Narrative Disclosure Techniques

Aggregation and Line-Item Presentation

Non-GAAP Liquidity Measures

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 5 – Identifying and Responding to Illegal Acts

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Illegal Acts Definition

Relationship to Financial Statements

Audit Considerations of the Possibility of Illegal Acts

Absence of Evidence of Possible Illegal Acts

Examples of Possible Illegal Acts

Illegal Acts vs. Change in Accounting Principles or Estimates

Illegal Acts vs. Error Corrections

Responding to Possible Illegal Acts

Responding to Detected Illegal Acts

FCPA Considerations

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 6 – Communicating Effectively with the Audit Committee

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Guidance

Communication Objectives

Initial Appointment or Retention

Terms of the Audit

Communication of Overall Audit Strategy and Key Risks

Audit Strategy

Communicating Audit Results

Quality of a Company's Financial Reporting

Disagreements with Management

Difficult or Contentious Matters

Difficulties in the Audit

Going Concern

Corrected & Uncorrected Misstatements

Control Deficiencies

Documenting Communications

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 7 – Post-Audit Responsibilities and Engagement Follow-Up

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Why Post-Audit Matters Exist

Overview of Applicable PCAOB Standards

Assessing if an Engagement Deficiency Exists

Responding to an Engagement Deficiency

Inability to Support Opinion

Discovery of Other Facts

Quality Control Requirements

Conclusion

Review Questions

Chapter 8 - Understanding Comfort Letters in Practice

Chapter Overview

Learning Objectives

Introduction

Overview of Comfort Letters

Who Can Receive a Comfort Letter

General Principles and Limitations

Format and Content of Comfort Letters

Independence

Introductory Paragraph

Reporting on Compliance with SEC Requirements

Information Other Than Audited Financial Statements

Interim Financial Statements

Capsule Financial Information

Pro Forma Financial Information

Financial Forecasts

Subsequent Changes

Statistics, Tables, and Other Information

Concluding Paragraph

Subsequently Discovered Matters

Illustrative Example

Conclusion

Review Questions

Glossary of Key Terms

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