Audit Controls and Accounting Failures

BUS

644

Audit Controls and Accounting Failures

Prerequisite: BUS 640 and 2 additional required courses.Legislation has been passed which now requires that independent auditors of publicly traded companies both assess and report on their clients' system of internal controls. Auditors need to ascertain whether those internal controls are in compliance with GAAP and proper audit standards. Some argue that many accounting failures and fraudulent activities occur due to companies not having an `adequate system of internal controls in place. As a result, the public often looks to the auditors and asks why this was not discovered while the audit was in process. In this course, students will develop an understanding of the audit process, along with how a company develops, or should develop, internal controls. Applying this knowledge, students will examine prominent case studies of accounting failures and will analyze how the auditor might have been able to detect them. A familiarity with contemporary issues and controversies currently under scrutiny in the public media is beneficial.

Fall, Spring

Graduate

No