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The Auditor’s Responsibility with Respect to Fraud and Fraud Reporting

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The Auditor’s Responsibility
With Respect to Fraud and Fraud Reporting

MAC 606 – Advanced Auditing

Public companies are required to prepare and issue financial statements that fairly reflect their performance. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires companies whose shares are publicly traded to obtain an audit by an independent auditor. The audit involves an examination to assess whether the financial statements and accompanying notes present fairly a company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Once this examination is made, the auditor is required to render an opinion. According to the standards adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), AU section 110-02, (Responsibilities and Functions of the Independent Auditor), “The auditor has the responsibility to plan and perform the audit to obtain a reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatements, whether caused by error or fraud.” (PCAOB, AU 110-02; AICPA 315; Whittington, 2012). Fraud is a pervasive problem. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2006 “Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse” estimated that a typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenues to fraud, or about $4,500 per employee each year (Apostolou & Crumbley, 2008). Most frauds involve a lack of adequate internal controls (opportunity), the need to maintain an expensive lifestyle or pressure to meet goals (incentives), and the perpetrators’ lack of awareness that their actions are wrong (self-rationalization) (Whittington, 2012). There are also those who simply lack integrity or want to make their victims look like fools. The increased awareness of both fraud and the importance of transparent financial reporting have

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