According to Albrecht, the most pressing trends in Auditing are the
widespread issues of fraud. In the article “Current Trends in Fraud
and its Detection” they explore the causes of fraud and the fraud
triangle. In addition Albrecht, breaks the fraud triangle down into 9
element of the perfect storm conditions that are conducive to
carryout fraud, good economy, moral decay, misplaced incentives,
unrealistic expectations, large debt, selective interpretation, behavior,
greed, and education. SOX and other regulations have been issued by
the government in response to multiple outbreaks of large fraud
cases. The big question asked was, are these regulations working.
According to Albrecht, they do. Regulations put forth by govt. body’s
are effective in reducing financial fraud. Auditors are encouraged to
perform a “Fraud Audit” instead of a “GAAS Audit” in a case of high
risk clients. This is a stronger and bigger process that takes 50 times
longer and cost 70 times more that the GAAS Audit. In a Fraud
Auditors work to uncover fraud rather than a reasonable assurance
and will come through a lot more accounts with a fine tooth.
Albrecht, W. Steve; Albrecht, Chad; Albrecht, ConanC. Information
Security Journal: A Global Perspective. Jan2008, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p2-12.
11p. 1 Diagram, 3 Charts. DOI: 10.1080/19393550801934331. ,
Database: International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference
Center
