Accounting Q&A · Forensic Accounting · Topic 2
Practise 25 forensic accounting questions on fraud scenarios and control effectiveness using five fictional investigation cases. Try each question before revealing the answer. Legal and reporting duties depend on the jurisdiction and engagement.
A clerk can create suppliers and release payments
1. What should the examiner establish?
Assess the risk of fictitious vendors.
2. Which records should the examiner obtain?
Obtain access listings and supplier change logs.
3. What procedure would test the issue?
Compare permissions with actual activity.
4. What alternative explanation or limitation matters?
A written approval rule does not establish enforcement.
5. What should happen next?
Separate roles or require independent review.
Inventory adjustments rise sharply before year-end
6. What should the examiner establish?
Assess unauthorised adjustments and reporting bias.
7. Which records should the examiner obtain?
Collect counts, adjustments and approver records.
8. What procedure would test the issue?
Compare reasons, timing and user patterns.
9. What alternative explanation or limitation matters?
Seasonal stocktakes can explain higher activity.
10. What should happen next?
Review high-risk adjustments and assign remediation.
Sales bonuses depend on quarter-end revenue
11. What should the examiner establish?
Assess premature or fictitious sales risk.
12. Which records should the examiner obtain?
Collect incentive terms, contracts and dispatch records.
13. What procedure would test the issue?
Test shipments and returns around the cut-off.
14. What alternative explanation or limitation matters?
A sales target is a risk factor rather than evidence of fraud.
15. What should happen next?
Change review thresholds and monitor subsequent returns.
A small business cannot fully segregate cash duties
16. What should the examiner establish?
Assess residual risk from combining custody and recording.
17. Which records should the examiner obtain?
Obtain register reports, deposit slips and bank credits.
18. What procedure would test the issue?
Test an independent owner review of deposits and refunds.
19. What alternative explanation or limitation matters?
Review without documented follow-up may miss repeated exceptions.
20. What should happen next?
Set a review schedule and record outcomes.
A control blocks duplicate invoice numbers
21. What should the examiner establish?
Assess whether duplicate payments can bypass the rule.
22. Which records should the examiner obtain?
Obtain rule settings and exception history.
23. What procedure would test the issue?
Test altered invoice numbers and duplicate bank payments.
24. What alternative explanation or limitation matters?
A rule matching exact text misses formatting variants.
25. What should happen next?
Add secondary matching and review overrides.