Early Detection and Prevention of Corporate Financial Fraud

The economic cost of financial statement fraud continues to be a problem for organizations and society. The research problem addressed in this study was the limited risk management strategies available for the early detection and prevention of financial statement fraud by corporate managers and auditors. These strategies are important to the proactive prevention of fraud. This study is important to future trustworthiness of financial statements. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to explore current early detection and prevention methods in financial statement fraud using a risk management conceptual framework. The research question focused on current fraud detection and prevention policies and risk management strategies that are currently used for proactively detecting and preventing financial statement fraud. Multiple sources of information were used, including examining recent financial fraud scandals, interviews, documents, and past research. The target population was managers and auditors of publicly traded corporations. A purposive sampling procedure was used to select 23 participants, which provided rich data. The qualitative data was coded and analyzed using the concept of risk management, along with triangulation to ensure credibility. The key findings indicated that current practitioners are moving beyond the era of reactive measures born from the past fraud crises and are working toward improved financial statement quality and trust. The results of the study also indicated that future research should include proactive methods of preventing fraud. This study is socially significant because it could enhance the ability to trust financial statement reporting in the future and improve corporate reputations