...practice and feedback with fraud detection exhibit a higher level of skepticism and knowledge about fraud and are better able to detect a fraud when it exists than individuals with typical audit experience. 1 I. INTRODUCTION The apparent inability of auditors to detect financial statement fraud has prompted regulators, practitioners, and academics to examine the question, “Why do experienced auditors often fail to detect fraud?” There are several factors that contribute to this failure. The Public Oversight Board (POB) Panel on Audit Effectiveness suggests that one factor might be that auditors do not possess an appropriate level of professional skepticism (POB, 227 and 86). The underlying assumption is that if auditors were more skeptical (i.e., assumed a more doubtful or questioning attitude), then they would assess a higher probability that...
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...16PF Analysis – Low and High Factors A Reserved, Detached, Critical, Cool, Impersonal People who score low (sten of 1 to 3) on Factor A tend to be stiff, cool, skeptical, and aloof. They like things rather than people, working alone, and avoiding compromises of viewpoints. They are likely to be precise and "rigid" in their way of doing things and in their personal standards. In many occupations these are desirable traits. They may tend. at times, to be critical, obstructive, or hard. Warmhearted, Outgoing, Participating, Interested in People, Easy-going People who score high (sten of 8 to 10) on Factor A tend to be goodnatured, easygoing, emotionally expressive, ready to cooperate, attentive to people, softhearted, kindly, adaptable. They like occupations dealing with people and socially impressive situations. and they readily form active groups. They are generous in personal relations, less afraid of criticism, better able to remember names of people. Factor B Less Intelligent, Concrete-thinking The person scoring low on Factor B tends to be slow to learn and grasp, dull, given to concrete and literal interpretation. This dullness may be simply a reflection of low intelligence, or it may represent poor functioning due to psychopathology. More Intelligent, Abstract-thinking, Bright The person who scores high on Factor B tends to be quick to grasp ideas, a fast learner, intelligent. There is some correlation with level of culture...
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...audience that God may not be the only “Supreme Being”. He believes God to be a good being that wouldn’t deceive us and lead our thoughts astray. The evil demon argument has the purpose of casting doubt on his belief that God is the only being who has the capability of implementing thoughts into his mind, creating doubt of the existence of an external world, and aiding his pursuit of a strong and certain foundation for all his knowledge and beliefs. In this argument, Descartes doesn’t refute the reality of a God, however I believe he presents the argument as if they both exist and that if he is being deceived it could not be from God, the good being, but the evil genius providing him with false sensory material. The primary claim of this skeptical argument is to doubt the reality of an external world that has the possibility of being created by an evil demon. Deceit could be defined in such a way that our minds are being controlled by an evil demon and that our senses of an external world are mistaken. Depicting the evil demon argument of Descartes in a science fiction way like “The Matrix,” made me really understand the concept because he raises the possibility that the human being has been subjected to mind control by an “evil genius.” If our nerves have been connected to a super computer to give us the illusion that we are functioning normally in a mirage world then we would not know we are being deceived. At first, this argument seemed ludicrous and sounded irrational but with...
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...A stone wall separates the speaker’s property from his neighbor’s. In spring, the two meet to walk the wall and jointly make repairs. The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept—there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He does not believe in walls for the sake of walls. The neighbor resorts to an old adage: “Good fences make good neighbors.” The speaker remains unconvinced and mischievously presses the neighbor to look beyond the old-fashioned folly of such reasoning. His neighbor will not be swayed. The speaker envisions his neighbor as a holdover from a justifiably outmoded era, a living example of a dark-age mentality. But the neighbor simply repeats the adage. The image at the heart of “Mending Wall” is arresting: two men meeting on terms of civility and neighborliness to build a barrier between them. They do so out of tradition, out of habit. Yet the very earth conspires against them and makes their task Sisyphean. Sisyphus, you may recall, is the figure in Greek mythology condemned perpetually to push a boulder up a hill, only to have the boulder roll down again. These men push boulders back on top of the wall; yet just as inevitably, whether at the hand of hunters or sprites, or the frost and thaw of nature’s invisible hand, the boulders tumble down again. Still, the neighbors persist. The poem, thus, seems to meditate conventionally on three grand themes: barrier-building (segregation, in the broadest sense of the word), the doomed nature of...
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...Willie Franklin Intro to Philosophy Professor David Scott 5/13/13 Critical Analysis Paper: Plato Vs. Descartes Plato lived in a time of decline of the Greek aristocracy. He was discouraged by both the "mob" (majority rule) and the "elite" (group of nobles) in his country (Johansen 22). He felt that majority rule was irrational and volatile because the average person lacked knowledge and self-restraint, making decisions from emotional responses based on desire and sentiment (Johansen 25). When is comes to metaphysics, Plato’s Theory of the Forms is by far the nucleus of it. For Plato, Forms are timeless essence or entities that rule the well being of a person. Also according to Plato, Forms are transcendental because they depend on the declaration that there is a plane of being outside of our ordinary existence (Tovar 10). Plato divided metaphysics into four levels of reality and four epistemological ways of apprehending the Forms. The four levels of reality are images, sensible objects, lower forms, and higher forms (Tovar 22). The four epistemological ways of apprehending are imagination, perception, reasoning and understanding. When is comes to his epistemology, he tied his dualistic notion of being and becoming. Being is said to be unchangeable and becoming is the way the world appears. Plato though that whatever is relative and always shifting could not be true. So basically Plato is saying the becoming is something that is not real. When it comes to truth...
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...one factor in which neither of them can see completely eye to eye, religion. The theory of evolution brings up multiple questions of whether or not there is any legitimacy to the concept of religion, especially that of a polytheistic view of God such as Christianity.With these theories being popular during Darwin’s time period it is easy to believe that Charles believed in God. In Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Nelson Bridgford this idea is supported by analyzing that “Evolution's biggest rival is creationism. Creationism is a religious belief that a higher being created the world and all that resides within it. This theory completely opposes Darwin's theory, which cites no divine intervention.” Now in more modern times there are more skeptical views giving people an understanding of why Dawkins is a non-believer in God coworking with his scientific views. From Richard Dawkins and God it is states that “Dawkins seems to believe that if people could be persuaded to give up the God Hypothesis on scientific grounds, the world would be a better place -- not just intellectually, but also morally and...
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...1 Running Head: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING IN PRACTICE Forensic Accounting in Practice Marc Fantone Strayer University Dr. Etta Steed November 17, 2013 Accounting, historically, has been a profession of number tracking, ledger updating and balance sheet reviewing; however, more recently, the need for a skeptical view of accounting business records has developed. In recent years, scandals such as Enron and Bernie Madoff have called for immediate action and needs of forensic accountants with a change in oversight to investigation. According to Zare, “Forensic accounting is unique in that it combines accounting with investigation. These bloodhounds as opposed to the watchdogs that are auditors attempt to sniff out fraudulent transactions from the financial records of banks and companies.” (Zare, 2013) By definition, forensic can be defined as “relating to, used in, or suitable to a court of law.” (Merriam-Webster, 2013) How can this increased level of accounting review and accuracy develop into a role that supports litigation and laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? The level of forensic accounting has led to the development and thought processes of what it actually means to be a forensic accountant. Five (5) Skills of a Forensic Accountant In addition to the basic functionality of a standard accountant, there are additional skills that would be needed for forensic accounting. The skills needed for forensic accounting are associated with practices of the occupation...
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...Critical Analysis of Meditations on the First Philosophy Gage Berryman Philosophy 101 April 17, 2014 Rene Descartes writes his Meditations on First Philosophy according to God and the soul. Both of these factors are addressed in all six of his meditations. Each meditation has its own theme and main objective that contribute to its explanation. Although Descartes writing was challenging to understand, I have found sources to help clarify and back up the ideas that have been stated. I will analysis the ideas Descartes has mentioned in the first three of his meditations. The first meditation: “Of the things which may be brought within the sphere of the doubtful” In this section, Descartes states that he does not trust his senses because they are deceptive. He questions the sciences and the deceptiveness that they have within them. The only science that he believes to be truthful is arithmetic and geometry. They are based on simple objects. The other sciences are untrustworthy because they come from composite ideas. Descartes states “there is nothing in all that I formerly believed to be true” God also plays a large part in the discussion of this meditation. He believes that God is not deceptive and only speaks the truth. The journal Substance and Action in Descartes and Newton states “from Descartes's point of view, we cannot think of God as extended because God lacks geometric properties, unlike ordinary material bodies, which have shapes, and whose parts have various...
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...Section A: Audit Practice Part b (i): Why is the audit of cash important part of the audit? From an auditing standpoint, cash is an important account because cash transactions affect all other business and financial processes. Businesses acquire cash by selling goods or services, disposing of fixed assets, or acquiring debt or equity. The same businesses put their cash to use through purchasing, paying employees, and buying inventory. Audits are an important part of business. Cash audits check that money has been handled properly, and performance audits ascertain whether employees are doing their jobs properly. Corporations are likely to undergo tax audits to ensure proper tax reporting and withholding. Audits may be performed in-house by management or human resources, by a third-party consulting firm hired specifically to perform the audits or by IRS agents who are auditing company tax records. The audit of cash is considered an important part of an audit mainly due to almost all business transactions will be ultimately settled through the cash accounts, the audit of cash accounts also assists in the verification of other asset and liability accounts as well as revenue and expenses. Some of the investor relies on the accuracy of the cash account to evaluate the financial health of the company. They use current asset which include the cash account to compute several financial measures. Other than that, cash is the highly liquid asset in a company and it is an area of high...
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...When something as complex as human behaviour is explained by the Psychodynamic and Behaviourist Approaches, they each simplify human behaviour in terms of their own approach. The Psychodynamic Approach explains human behaviour in terms of unconscious motivation, and the Behaviourist Approach explains it in terms of the importance of learned behaviour. Determinism - When looking at the factors that are thought to control human behaviour, the Psychodynamic Approach tends to suggest factors involving our unconscious mind, whereas the Behaviourist Approach suggests factors arising from our learning history. Therapy - The Psychodynamic Approach uses Dreams Analysis, which taps in to our unconscious mind, as a basis for therapy. The Behaviourist Approach uses Aversion Therapy, which is only interested in 'training' the person to change...
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...In Antigua when the Social Security Act was introduced in 1973, it was on the principles of Beveridge’s model of Universality, Solidarity and Equity, and to today those principles still hold true. At, first the populace was skeptical about this ‘new tax’ and thought that this was just another scheme for the Government to get their hands on their monies, so much so that if deductions were not compulsory, many persons would have refused to pay. But over time this thinking seems to have come to life for although the Regulations allows for a board of control, there seems to be no control. Social security act, Cap, 408 (1) 4 states ‘there is to be established a board to be called the Social Security Board of Control in which the fund shall be vested and which shall, subject to the provision of this Act, be responsible for administering the Fund.’ Apart from that we are aware that the board’s functions also include hiring, firing and Policy making it also has a responsibility to its stakeholders to ensure that their funds are properly invested in a manner that will ensure the scheme remains viable.. The two top position on the board that of Director and Deputy, are government appointees who it is believed are ‘political cronies’ who can be easily manipulated by the minister in charge of S/S i.e. the minister of Finance. So the boards seem to have no autonomy as they appear to be doing the biddings of the political directorate. The corporate directors guide book states that...
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...English 101 Rhetorical Analysis During the beginning of this article, Tom Bissel has a back and forth comparison of his opinion about the video game Fallout 3, and telling his imaginary children, Kermit and Hussein, what he was doing the day that Barack Obama was elected to be our first African-American President of the United States. He tries to make an argument that even though there was a widely-known national, and even global, event that took place, he felt like playing the open world game of Fallout 3 was just more important. He goes on to say, “And so, my beloved Kermit, my dear little Hussein, at the moment America changed forever, your father was wandering an ICBM-denuded wasteland, nervously monitoring his radiation level, armed only with a baseball bat, a 10mm pistol, and six rounds of ammunition, in search of a vicious gang of mohawked marauders who were 100 percent bad news and totally had to be dealt with. Trust Daddy on this one”. This analogy of two events shows that beating a video game like Fallout 3 was just as important as watching the election of the 44th President of the United States. And while the excruciating detail of the game makes it seem like there was a lot of responsibility on his hands and he makes it sound like an assertion, it wouldn’t matter in the end, because we all know it was just a virtual world, and he missed out on reality. His anecdote was very detailed, however, and I’m sure if there was anyone who was skeptical about buying Fallout 3...
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...`Running head: GAP ANALYSIS: INTERSECT INVESTMENTS Gap Analysis: Intersect Investments University of Phoenix MMPBL/520 Gap Analysis: Intersect Investments With such constant state of flux within the financial services industry, Intersect has attempted to survive. CEO Frank Jeffers decided on a new vision for the company and it is called the “customer intimacy model”. To help implement this model, the organization must align employee morale. Jeffers goal is to build long-term relationships and add value and trust to the customers of Intersect, but employees must stand by the new vision. Intersect understands that benchmarking is a great start to implement its new vision but the restructuring of organizational culture is much more important for the success of the model. Different values, rights, and interest are at stake and it is creating resistance to change. Situation Analysis Issue and Opportunity Identification The financial services industry is struggling and Intersect Investments is in need of an organizational change. Intersect Investments is managing to survive within its industry and is currently facing a 25% turnover rate. The company is in desperate need of increasing customer rates and plans to establish long-term customer relationships so that its brand image is improved. CEO Frank Jeffers realizes that the company will survive by implementing the “customer intimacy” model. In hiring Janet Angelo as the company’s new VP in marketing...
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...Hamlet by Shakespeare: A Critical Analysis Can a king actually become crazy? Hamlet is written by the renowned William Shakespeare. This book is a compelling story consisting of heartache, tragedy, love, and family. Hamlet places its focus on the prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Hamlet has all eyes on him as prince, which means that more people saw him as he went crazy. However, was Hamlet really crazy or was he simply acting? First, Hamlet does talk to himself; it is as if he is in his own world. Consequently, if someone like his closest friend, Horatio, stops by to see him at his palace, he would probably hear him say something like, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world (Hamlet 2003)!” In reality, this...
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...Analysis of the Team Charter The team charter is something brand new to me. It is something that I believe that has been one of the missing components of past group work. I view it as a type of contract with my classmates as something I agree to in completing the group work assignments, and something that states my responsibilities as a team member. Each team member has different strengths and weaknesses and in developing group chemistry, this is something of extreme importance to consider. After taking the Jungian Personality Assessment, I learned about myself and my classmates, that we all have strengths and weaknesses, including listening skills and how much we trust one another. In considering these scores, it is going to strengthen our team charter and the understanding of one another to know who is best suited for what position within the group, and the types of responsibilities that should be assigned to that person. Someone that is a good listener is someone who should collect and take a log about what the team decides. They are a good “right hand” to the leader of the group, and in listening to other team members, they can mediate between those that may not have good listening skills. Many times, this is a reason that group work can be a struggle and sometimes, ultimately a failure. A failure to see another teammates side in an assignment, may lead to a one sided, or even only partially developed idea. It may also lead to misdirection. If the leader of...
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