Course syllabus
Course
number: ACCT 461.01
Course
title: Fraud Examination
Quarter: Spring, 2010
Instructor: Robert Holtfreter PH.D, CFE (Dr. H).
Office:
Shaw/Smyser 313
Office hours: M &
W 11:30 A.M.to 12:30 P.M. & 3:00 P.M. to 3:15 P. M.
Office phone: 509-963-2144
Home
phone: 509-965-0369 (
E-Mail address - office: holtfret@cwu.edu
E-mail address – home: doctorh@q.com
Class
meetings: M &W 5:40 P.M. to 7:50
P.M.in Shaw 111.
Web address: Http://www.cwu.edu/~holtfret
General
introduction:
Welcome to ACCT 461-Fraud
Examination! Here at CWU we are very excited because we are the only university
in the State of
Assuming you interested in becoming a Certified Fraud Examiner
(CFE), this course will help to prepare you to pass the CFE exam. Although the
book does cover most everything on the exam, it would be wise to purchase the
Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s (ACFE) self-study materials after you
complete the course or after you graduate. Most employers will pay for the ACFE
material. The ACFE guarantees that, if you use their material in the manner
proposed, you will pass the exam on the first try. You can take the exam after
you graduate but you will not get the official certification until you met the
practice requirements.
Purpose:
The purpose of
this course is to: (1) educate you about both the pervasiveness of and the
causes of occupational fraud,
(2) explore in detail methods of fraud detection, investigation,
and prevention, and (3) increase your ability to detect material financial
statement fraud. Additionally, the course has the broader objective of
contributing to the professional development of students, including increasing competencies
in written and oral communication, professional demeanor,
problem-solving/decision making, strategic/critical thinking, interaction and leadership skills. The American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants is currently promoting all of these skills as part
of their Core Competency Framework for entry into the accounting
profession.
Teaching
method:
The class is
structured with the use of a combination of lectures and active learning
through the use of student learning teams.
Description
of Course (adapted):
Fraud
examination will cover the principles and methodology of fraud detection and
deterrence for occupational fraud. The course covers such topics as skimming,
cash larceny, check tampering, register disbursement schemes, billing schemes, payroll
and expense reimbursement schemes, non-cash misappropriation, corruption,
accounting principles and fraud, fraudulent financial statements, and
interviewing techniques.
Course
Objectives (in general*):
By the end of
the course the student should be able to understand:
How and why
occupational fraud is committed.
How fraudulent
conduct may be deterred.
How
to investigate and resolve allegations of fraud.
* More
specific objectives are stated on the first page of each chapter.
Text and
other materials:
·
Principles of Fraud Examination by Joseph T. Wells; 2nd
edition; John Wiley & sons.
·
Videos from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
(ACFE.
·
KPMG Fraud Survey – maybe if the latest one is available.
Student
Responsibilities and Requirements:
It is assumed that when you register for this
course, you are making a commitment to devote the time necessary to meet the
course requirements. It is expected that every student will fulfill every
requirement of the course. Although course attendance is not required, students
are highly encouraged to attend class and take part in class activities. There is a very high correlation between
class attendance and grades. You are
expected to have your homework done when you come to class. You also are highly
encouraged to ask questions in class
Homework:
I will probably assign all of the review
questions and discussion issues for each chapter. Working the questions is
crucial because it tests your knowledge of the key concepts in the reading
material and helps to prepare you for the tests. I would suggest reading the
chapters a couple of times before attempting to do the homework. I may also have you do a few Internet
assignments. These are extremely important because you learn where to find
information about the fraud area.
Specific daily assignments will be posted on the homework link, which
I’ll post and update on a weekly basis. It is crucial that you check the
homework link during the week for changes in homework assignments and other
information.
Upgrading
of teaching to enhance student learning:
It is common
knowledge that college graduates will work on teams or in groups when employed
in the workplace. To help develop the professional demeanor, problem
solving/decision making, interaction, leadership, strategic/critical thinking
and communication skills necessary to work on teams and to enhance performance
on exams, student-learning teams will be used in class. To gain an appreciation
of the positive outcomes of working in student-learning teams, please go to my
web site and read the articles that I have recently published in this area.
Testing and
grading policies:
For testing purposes, there will be three
regular exams and an optional comprehensive exam. The three regular exams are
required whereas the comprehensive exam is optional but will count 100 points
if you take it. To
qualify to take the final you must demonstrate that there is a possibility that
you have a chance to improve your overall grade. For example, if you need 100 points
or less on the final to improve your overall grade, then a possibility exists
and you qualify to take it. On the other hand, if you need more than 100 points
on the final to improve your overall grade, which is impossible, you will not
qualify to take it. All exams count 100 points. You may take an exam on a day
before it is given in class but not after. There are no make-up exams and if
you miss one exam, the optional comprehensive final exam will be required and
score on this exam will be used as the score for the exam you missed.
Test # 1
covers chapters 1-4; test # 2 covers chapters 5-8; test # 3 covers chapters
9-13; there will be no test for chapter 14, only a quiz.
No Points will be given for attendance or
completion of homework. Extra credit will not be granted for any reason.
Course
Philosophy.
Students must
complete both the reading and written assignments that are due each day. An
understanding of the assignments is necessary to effectively participate in
classroom activities and learn from the Instructional Videos/Exercises
scheduled for that day. The role of the professor is to disseminate facts and
also facilitate your mastery of knowledge and skills related to forensic
accounting. I will work to provide an environment that promotes active learning
and motivates you to strive for your best. I am generally available to
help students during my office hours and other hours by appointment. I am happy
to respond to questions via e-mail or telephone. Please contact me about any
problems you are having with assignments, grading, projects, etc. What you get
out of this course is dependent on the effort you put into it.
Written and Oral
Assignments – 100 points
As part of the course requirements, I require that students
write a research paper on a fraud topic that I normally assign. Drawing on my
strengths as a researcher and member of the editorial boards of our three top
academic and practitioner journals, I’ll teach you how to conduct a
non-empirical research project that is appropriate for a presentation to any
audience.
I have decided to get some or all of my students in the Fraud
Examination course involved in service work staring with the fall 2009 quarter.
I will assign two students to a team and their role will be to either (1)
update some of the recent articles that I have published in the Identity Theft
and debit/credit fraud areas and produce power point presentations or (2)
conduct a research project in another area of fraud and produce a power point
presentation. After I edit each power point presentation, I will then require
the members of each team to make a presentation to the class. Then, I will
select the best (hopefully all) presentations and, hopefully, get volunteers to
make presentations at various business and non-for-profit organizations in
Yakima and Kittitas counties. I will have more details about this assignment
later.
Grade
Determination:
Grades are based
on the following preset standards; i.e. a curve will not be used.
A = 91 – 100 D-
= 65
A- = 90 F = 0 - 64
B+ = 88 - 89
B
= 83 - 87
B- = 80 -
82
C+ = 78 - 79
C
= 73 - 77
C- = 70 - 72
D+ = 69
D
= 66 – 68
Class
policies for taking tests and for written assignments
Memory
calculators, electronic dictionaries, cell phones, palms or any other
electronic devices are not allowed to be used during the taking of an exam. Our
department has a policy that only Texas Instruments “Math Mate” calculators or
a similar non-memory calculator may be used. The only items allowable on
the table are the test, non-memory calculator, and pencil/pen. No hats or caps
can be worn. To get credit for an answer on a test, all relevant calculations
must be provided. In other words, if you show the correct answer by guessing
but do not provide the relevant calculations to support the answer, you will
not get any credit or points. On the other hand, if you provide all the
relevant calculations to support your derived answer but provide the wrong
answer because of a math error, you will be given full credit for the work. I
grade the work, not the answer, where calculations are required.
Cheating of any sort, including the use of
crib sheets, etc., will not be allowed.
The penalty for such behavior will be an "F" for the course.
After the tests are scored, we will go over them in class. They will be then
collected and kept in my office. A score of zero will be recorded for any test
that is not returned during the class session in which it was reviewed.
Other
Important Information:
The
class begins on Wednesday March 31.
Change
of schedule period is March 30 – April 5.
Uncontested
withdrawal deadline is Friday May 14.
No
class on Monday May 31 – Memorial Day.
Hardship
withdrawal petition deadline is Friday June 4.
Last
day of instruction for our class is Weds. June 2.
Student study/faculty
development day is Monday June 7.
Optional
Final exam date is TBA.
Caveat: If errors are found in scoring any of the
tests, written assignments or in assigning the final grade, I have the right to
change a student’s scores or assigned grade at any time during the course or
after the final grade has been released to the registrar’s office.
|
Opportunities
in the fraud/forensic accounting area:
Fraud and forensic accounting are rapidly
growing areas concerned with the detection and prevention of fraud and
white-collar crime. Robert G. Roche, a retired chief of the IRS Criminal
Investigation Division, provides this description of a forensic accountant:
Someone who
can look behind the facade--not accept the records at their value--someone who
has a suspicious mind that the documents he or she is looking at may not be
what they purport to be and someone who has the expertise to go out and conduct
very detailed interviews of individuals to develop the truth, especially if
some are presumed to be lying.
Recently,
In addition to
the Members Only part of the ACFE web site, many fraud/forensic accounting
related job opportunities within the public sector could be found at:
http://www.usajobs.gov/contact.asp
Other
important links to fraud related jobs are:
Dr. Holtfreter:
Accounting 461
I have carefully
read the course syllabus for Accounting 461 and completely understand all of
its contents.
Signed
_____________________________
Date ____________________________