BKFRAFOA.RVW   20070515

"Fraud Auditing and Forensic Accounting", Tommie W. Singleton et al,
2006, 0-471-78591-1
%A   Tommie W. Singleton
%A   Aaron J. Singleton
%A   G. Jack Bologna
%A   Robert J. Lindquist
%C   5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON   M9B 6H8
%D   2006
%G   0-471-78591-1
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471785911/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471785911/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471785911/robsladesin03-20
%O   Audience s- Tech 1 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P   326 p.
%T   "Fraud Auditing and Forensic Accounting, 3rd ed."

Chapter one is a general background on fraud, listing perpetrators and
types.  The material is mostly common knowledge and is unlikely to be
very helpful to anyone with the slightest familiarity with accounting,
forensics, or security.  Fraud auditing and forensic accounting is
described in chapter two.  The characteristics and skills necessary
for success are similar to those given for most fields of forensics. 
The text is presented in a disjointed structure, is primarily
historical, of questionable relevance, and repeats concepts given in
the first chapter.  Probably the most striking point is the tacit
admission that the majority of frauds are not uncovered by audits,
which would seem to imply that the topic of the book is a useless
exercise.

Chapter three looks at auditor liability from the perspective of
United States law.  The content is sometimes inconsistent and holds
yet more repetition.  A basic outline of the Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners (ACFE) fraud tree is given in chapter four, but it is
difficult to describe the design as a taxonomy since it consists of
some overall factors, but little that would allow practitioners to
analyze relationships.  In a similar manner, indicators for a number
of types of fraud are catalogued in chapter five.

Chapter six catalogues some types of software tools for those engaged
in forensic accounting.  There is a limited overview of basic
functions, a great many acronyms (some rather silly), and a brief list
of specific products.  Fraud prevention, in chapter seven, provides
only for generic advice, although it does note what you might expect
from different types of audits.  Chapter eight's review of risk
assessment outlines some of the basic elements and furnishes a
simplistic checklist.  Pedestrian and disorganized recommendations for
information security (related to accounting systems) is dispensed in
chapter nine, and is repeated in a less focused manner in ten.

Chapter eleven deals with the issues of providing expert witness
testimony, under the United States' "Daubert" and related decisions. 
Much of this involves the general trial process and advice on
demeanour.  The same thread continues in chapter twelve with
suggestions on the qualifications and personality suitable to an
expert witness.  The rules of evidence are outlined in chapter
thirteen.

Those not thoroughly familiar with accounting and also financial
auditing are unlikely to find anything in this book helpful. 
Therefore, managers without an auditing background, and also those
well versed in accounting but wanting to move into auditing should
probably look elsewhere.  Forensic specialists needing to assess or
examine accounts will also find the work lacking.  Forensic auditors
who have not yet had to testify in court may find some value in the
last few chapters, but are likely to be well beyond the advice given
in the bulk of the work.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2007   BKFRAFOA.RVW   20070515