Share Featured in the Examiner® Volume 35 Number 1 Spring 2010 By Lewis D. Bivona, Jr., CPA, AFE, Principal and Insurance Group Leader for WithumSmith+Brown Contributing Author acknowledgement: Elaine Nissley, MBA, CISA, PMP, CCSA, Sr. Consulting Manager, Risk Management Services Group, McKonly & Asbury LLP Editor’s Introduction Just as examiners are adjusting to new methods…
In a world so dependent on technology, it is becoming more important than ever for computers to be investigated as part of accounting fraud cases. It may be obvious to assume that when looking at a hard drive, an investigator will be able to see the files saved on the computer. However, there is much…
Share WithumSmith+Brown, PC, was honored at today’sPhiladelphia Business Journal 2010 Corporate Philanthropy Awards program, receiving theTop Volunteer Donoraward in the medium size business category.The award recognizes the firm for the number of volunteer hours its staff has dedicated to the not-for-profit community in the Greater Philadelphia area.Richard Cohen, partner-in-charge of Withum’s Cherry Hill office, was…
Each payroll audit includes certain tests, such as: Are new hires reported correctly? Are all pay periods accounted for? Are vacations being reported correctly? There are a few questions that the payroll auditor can ask an employer which can direct the auditor to test specific time frames in the audit period, which can lead to…
Share There may be many ways to skin a cat, but when it comes to the termination of a partnership interest, we are aware of two possible considerations. In many cases, the tax consequences are the most critical considerations as the economic results of a liquidation or a sale are quite similar in nature. We…
Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal There may be many ways to skin a cat, but when it comes to the termination of a partnership interest, we are aware of two possible considerations. In many cases, the tax consequences are the most critical considerations as the economic results of a liquidation or a sale…
Elliot Ness. J. Edgar Hoover. Al Capone. Frank Wilson. Wait, Frank who? Frank Wilson – likely the first and most famous forensic accountant ever known. The 1920s mobster Alphonse “Scarface” Capone was an accountant’s nightmare; actually, he was a nightmare for many others as well. It turns out when running nightclubs, speakeasies, dog tracks, brothels…
Share Occupational Fraud is defined as an employee using his or her occupation for personal gain through the deliberate theft or misuse of the assets of the employing organization (see Wells, Joseph T., Occupational Fraud and Abuse, Obsidian Publishing Company, 1997). Business owners, directors of not-for-profit organizations and trustees of employee benefit plans often have…
Share According to Reuters, as investors continue to consider the magnitude and effects of Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme, the SEC reports that the number of such schemes is not on the rise, but their magnitude is. The SEC also reports that successful Ponzi schemes have certain factors in common. The creator of the scheme…
Share Question: We suspect that one of our contributing employers is making cash payments to employees for work covered by the collective bargaining agreement and is not making fringe benefit payments for those payments. What can we do? Answer: The plan should have access to the employer’s cash disbursements journal, the entity’s general ledger and…