ACF5120 - Forensic accounting and fraud examination - 2017

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Business and Economics

Organisational Unit

Department of Accounting

Unit guides

Offered

Caulfield

  • First semester 2017 (Day)
  • Second semester 2017 (Day)
  • Second semester 2017 (Evening)

Synopsis

This unit covers theoretical and practical issues relevant to forensic accounting and fraud examination. Forensic accounting is the application of investigative and analytical skills to resolve financial issues in a manner that meets standards required by courts of law. Fraud examination is the process used to resolve allegations of fraud through the accumulation of evidence, including the investigation of systems and internal controls, and the detection of fraud circumstances. The unit examines the investigative process as well as an array of tools and techniques used to investigate financial forensic issues and fraud. Topics include: methods and techniques used by forensic accountants to collect, analyse and report relevant information for supporting cases to be presented in court; the nature, prevention, detection and investigation of different types of fraud, including: financial statement fraud, fraud against the organisation, consumer fraud, and e-commerce fraud.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

  1. examine the nature of fraud and critically evaluate and apply theories and techniques to prevent, detect and investigate different types of fraud, including financial statement fraud, fraud against organisations, consumer fraud, and fraud in e-commerce
  2. demonstrate the application of knowledge and skills that forensic accountants and fraud examiners are expected to possess. These include: investigative techniques, knowledge of auditing, ethics, criminology, accounting, law, and information technology, and communication skills
  3. develop an ability to work independently and to lead and participate in teams from diverse cultural and social backgrounds by completing both independent and group assessable tasks
  4. apply critical thinking, problem solving and presentation skills to individual and/or group activities dealing with forensic accounting and fraud examination and demonstrate in an individual summative assessment task the acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by ACF5120.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 50% + Examination: 50%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Vic Naiker (First semester)

Dr Mukesh Garg (Second semester)

Prerequisites

If students are enrolled in course 0503 or B6002 there are no prerequisites. For students enrolled in other courses the prerequisite is ACF5953.

Co-requisites

Students must be enrolled in one of the following courses or seek the approval from the Chief Examiner before undertaking this unit: B6002, B6005, B6015 or B6011

Prohibitions

AFF5120, AFX5120, ACF5120, AFF5130