Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal
Spring is here in Washington, DC and that means it time for the famous cherry blossoms. I only bring it up as this is probably the best weather we’ve had for the cherry trees in a good ten years, with four perfect spring days at the height of the blossoms. So, if you’re in the DC area, this is a good year to try to try to see them, along with throngs of […]
Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA
Does Not Have the Necessary Records when the Auditor Arrives
The first step the auditor should perform is to sit down with the employer representative and insure that all records asked for in the documentation request (sent to the employer) are there and available for inspection. The auditor should know where every requested record is before the audit starts.
If the employer does not produce the record for this initial meeting, the auditor should begin making a […]
Lawrence R. Beebe, CPA
In this series, we are discussing specific areas where fraud might be likely to occur within an organization and the steps management can take to detect and prevent fraud.
The Auditor Can’t Find What Isn’t on the Books
Anytime a fraud occurs, someone is bound to ask “where were the auditors?” Many times the auditor should have suspected or caught the fraud. There are circumstances, however, where it is almost impossible to find the fraudulent conduct. One of […]
Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA
Are “No Shows” When the Auditor Arrives
When you arrive at the place (and time) of the scheduled payroll audit, you are informed that the person you are supposed to meet is not there, and no one knows where he/she is. You wait for a reasonable time, but the person is still absent. You should then ask to speak to the most senior person available at the employer and discuss the matter with them. You should […]
Lawrence R. Beebe, CPA
In this series, we are discussing specific areas where fraud might be likely to occur within an organization and the steps management can take to detect and prevent fraud.
You Can Buy a Receipt Book at a Stationery Store
Just because a receipt is attached to a request for reimbursement, it does not necessarily make the receipt valid. An entity hired us to investigate a situation where an employee was being reimbursed for a substantial number of business […]
Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal
If we weren’t talking about family businesses in this blog, and instead were just focused on businesses in general, this same topic could be approached – generational differences in the workplace. But since we do focus on family businesses, the issue has an added dimension.
Let’s take the maternity leave issue as an example. In the first generation of “Smith Family Widgets,” the matriarch of the family 50 years ago may have done books […]
Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA
Calls and Cancels at the Last Minute
When an employer calls and cancels at the last minute, an immediate return phone call should be made advising the employer that considerable expense has already been incurred for the auditor. The auditor may already be on his or her way to the site of the audit. The payroll audit representative making the call should urge the employer to allow the audit it take place at the originally scheduled […]
Lawrence R. Beebe, CPA
In this series, we are discussing specific areas where fraud might be likely to occur within an organization and the steps management can take to detect and prevent fraud.
Petty Cash Can Be the Tip of the Iceberg
External auditors often ignore petty cash because the amount of the petty cash fund is immaterial to the financial statements. Even so, the auditor should look at the volume of transactions in petty cash and should scan those transactions looking […]
Posting by Phil Vivirito
I went on an audit that looked like I was traveling to the middle of nowhere. My second flight segment was a prop plane that took me to an airport with six gates. I then had about a 45 minute drive to the audit site. For the last 15 miles of my drive the only things I passed were open fields, boarded – up gas stations and an occasional mobile home. At 11:15 a.m., I pulled […]
Lawrence R. Beebe, CPA
In this series, we are discussing specific areas where fraud might be likely to occur within an organization and the steps management can take to detect and prevent fraud.
Cooking the Books isn’t What Julia Child was Doing
Cooking the books is fraud used to falsify the company’s financial statements. It is often used to improve the earnings of a company by recording revenues that are either nonexistent or have not been earned by year end. In recent […]
