NCJ Number
70386
Date Published
1980
Length
314 pages
Annotation
This volume contains a general assessment of the problems of management fraud and the auditing profession's deterrence role, accompanied by a discussion of innovative approaches to the subject which were presented at a 1978 symposium.
Abstract
Corporate impropriety and management fraud--the deliberate material misstatement of financial statements by top management--has recently come to the attention of the press, the public, and Congress, which has exhibited a strong concern for the state of the system of corporate accounting. Management frauds are the most crucial of business improprieties because, to a large extent, the health of the capital markets rests on the confidence that financial statements are not fraudulent. Thus, the detection and prevention of fraudulent financial statements are basic to the functioning of the economic system, and they must be ensured by the auditing profession and the business community. To assist the parties in this responsibility of reassuring the public and maintaining the effectiveness of the system of corporate accountability, the first part of this book analyzes the problem and its possible solutions, addressing the extent of management fraud, auditors' responsibilities in fraud detection, and the effectiveness of present audit procedures. Top-management controls, computer and management fraud, and such extraneous factors as the ethical climate of the society, government regulatory and enforcement activities, and the role of the legal profession in the system of corporate accountability are also considered. The new methods introduced in this volume are not intended as proposals for immediate action, but rather as ideas to be considered from a cost-benefit viewpoint in society which functions on an economic system that cannot tolerate too many controls without losing its vitality. The search for alternative controls and other possible deterrents must take into account that audits are not expressely designed to uncover management frauds, and therefore merely increasing audit procedures of the present type would not assure eradication of management fraud. Topics of the nine symposium contributions that comprise the second half of the volume range from interdisciplinary approaches in the study of management fraud to social and psychological perspectives on the problems and legal issues of fraud classification. Tabular and graphic data are provided with individual articles. Over 800 citations are contained in a special bibliography on auditor involvement in the detection of fraud. Appendixes contain text of the 'Report, Conclusions, and Recommendations by the Commission on Auditor's Responsibilities'. An index is also provided.