HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SYLLABUS – ACNT 1305
Forensic Accounting
Distance Education
Instructor: Dr. Marina Grau
Prerequisite:
ACCT 2302 (Principles of Accounting II)
Course Description:
This course is intended to help students understand the role of the Forensic Accountant. Upon completion of this course the students will learn special skills in accounting, auditing, finance, quantitative methods, certain areas of the law, research, and investigative skills to collect, analyze, and evaluate evidential matter and to interpret and communicate findings.
Finance and quantitative skills will be addressed since they are especially important to Forensic Accountants who calculate damages.
The complexity of Forensic Accounting has gained considerable attention over the past five years and will continue to gain momentum.
Textbook required for this course:
FORENSIC+INVESTIGATIVE ACCOUNTING
Course Goals:
The primary purpose of this course is to provide students with the knowledge of the terms and accounting procedures encompassed in Forensic Accounting.
Cover a vast range of civil and criminal accounting fraud and related activities, from false business valuations and employer fraud to information security and counter-terrorism.
Cover the criminal justice system as it relates to accounting, touching on areas such as forensic science, organized crime, litigation support, and expert testimony
Each student will present in class all research assignments as well as end-of-chapter cases.
Cover in its entirety internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Identify cases and homework that would cover Management’s Antifraud Programs and Controls and the risk factors included in SAS No. 99, including indicators such as:
a) indicators of financial crime
b) the ACFE’s fraud prevention checkup
c) internal control assessment forms
d) computer applications checklist
e) evaluation of internal control procedures
The content of this class will be closely related to Fraud Examinations. Upon completion of this course, students will learn responsibilities of management and auditors, red flags of financial statement fraud, and audit procedures to detect fraud.
Finally, students will also learn how to apply internal controls through actual case studies.
Instructor Information:
Instructor:
Dr. Marina Grau
Office Location:
West Loop Campus Suite # 213
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday 8:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Phone #:
713/718-7905
Email: marina.grau@hccs.edu Evaluation and Requirements:
Students are expected to read all assigned chapters, complete and submit all assignments on the due dates, and log in on a regular basis to Eagle-On-Line. Instructor will monitor this via Eagle-On-Line.
Accounting is best learned through doing. Therefore, there are always homework assignments to do. This will require a considerable commitment of time and effort from you. Typically, the successful student in college can count on 3 hours of independent study for every hour in the classroom.
Your final grade for this course will be based on how well you do in meeting the evaluation requirements listed on your assignment schedule and applying the grading scale which is listed below.
Students with Disabilities:
Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disabilities Services Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty is authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.
Academic Honesty:
Students are responsible for conducting themselves with honor and integrity in fulfilling course requirements. Penalties and/or disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against
