Financial accounting

Click here to view a list of the top ten accounting scandals of the past decade. This will help you to focus on the importance of internal controls and section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). There are several areas of financial fraud and fraudulent financial reporting. Each is different, but a violation is unethical and will create mistrust of the accountants and the accounting profession.

Discuss the misrepresentation of financial information to the public, and answer the following questions:

• What statements are key targets for this manipulation, and what accounts found in the statements are the main focus?
• How can this fraudulent information be detected? What are the steps to prevent these actions?
• What is the importance of SOX section 404 to help with preventing fraud and fraudulent financial reporting