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Certified Fraud Exam class helps Masters of Accounting students pass the test before graduation

Monday, April 13, 2009

Fraudulent charges against business persons are prevalent during this economic recession, leading to companies realizing the importance of hiring trained forensic auditors.

The Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination course was designed and implemented by KU School of Business professors six years ago, making KU one of the first schools in the nation to recognize the need for trained forensic accountants. The class, offered only at the graduate level, is designed to prepare students to take and pass the Certified Fraud Exam (CFE), so they can enter this important field.

"The study, and knowledge, of fraud has become one of the hottest topics in accounting today," said Paul Mason, senior lecturer in Forensic Accounting at the KU School of Business. "In fact, we know that as the economy weakens, fraud-related activities rise at an alarming rate."

The CFE is usually taken after students graduate, but this year students decided to start taking the exam while still in school. Last semester, Anne Podany and Tom Scuderi were the first Master in Accounting (MAcc) students to succeed in doing this, and seven more students will take the exam this spring.

Scuderi, who graduated from the MAcc program in December and is now working at KPMG, said it was easier to find time to study for the CFE while he was still in school.

"I believe that with the studying I've already done for the exam, I will get more out of my work experience than if I had waited to take the exam afterward," Scuderi said.

Katie Marsh, who will spend her Spring Break taking the CFE, said ever since she was little she wanted to solve crimes, and the CFE was the logical opportunity for her to combine this with her fascination for accounting.

"With the history and continuous occurrences of such acts, fraud prevention and investigation is needed now more than ever to ensure accurate financial reporting," Marsh said.

Marsh said that the broad coverage of topics in ACCT 741 thoroughly prepared her for the exam.

"Now when I am studying, I will get to a question, and I think, ÔNext. I already learned
this in Mason's class'," Marsh said.

The CFE is broken into four categories: law, criminology, financial and investigation, and Mason tries to touch on topics in each category. He said the course fills to capacity each semester.

"I think our course is special, because we offer topics that extend beyond financial statement fraud such as the psychology of crime, the taxonomy of frauds, identity theft, check fraud, how to detect a lie, corporate espionage and much more," Mason said.

Jamie Paul, also preparing to take the exam over Spring Break, said it had been "extremely hectic" managing her time between school and studying for the exam, but that she wanted to spend her remaining semester doing something she enjoyed.

"It is not the typical tax or audit accounting route, so taking Fraud has opened not only my eyes, but a lot of fellow colleagues' eyes regarding potential opportunities," Paul said. "I hope in the future that the School of Business will broaden the forensic accounting area by offering more fraud-based classes."

For students like Paul, Marsh and Laura Crowe, also taking the exam over Spring Break, it was important to take the CFE early, so they can concentrate on the CPA.

"I feel I need to get this done while I'm still in school, and still remember the material from class, because after school my entire concentration will be on the CPA exam," Crowe said.

After they take the CPA exam this summer, Marsh will be working at KPMG as an audit associate, and Crowe will be working at CBIZ. Paul will be working at Grant Thornton's Advisory Service Department, and they will be taking along the additional knowledge, and hopefully the certification, to detect fraud in the numbers.