ALMOST ANY PUBLIC COMPANY can become a petri dish for fraudulent nancial reporting. It can seep into a company’s nancial reporting system undetected. Once inside, it can silently grow. It can spread to involve more and more people. It can end up infecting any number of accounts. It can become so pervasive that even those responsible for the fraud don’t know how bad it has gotten. Over the last 15 years, the nancial community has taken great strides against nancial fraud. Sarbanes-Oxley has created enhanced mechanisms for fraud deterrence. Dodd-Frank has added enhanced incentives for whistleblowers. Companies have worked hard to improve their nancial reporting cultures. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of nancial fraud are greatly exaggerated. In fact, an ostensible decline in nancial fraud may have as much to do with the economic climate—and in particular the 2008 Financial Crisis—than with changes in the law. When times are tough, nancial fraud will naturally decline because the pressure for spectacular results has dissipated. It is when the good times return that the risk of fraud increases. This book seeks to assist in the battle against nancial fraud. It warns of the insidiousness with which nancial fraud starts and grows. It gives practical, concrete advice on fraud prevention. It addresses fraud detection and its aftermath so that, if nancial fraud should be uncovered, a company can move beyond it as ef ciently as possible. And it talks about innovative approaches to nancial reporting that can relieve the pressure behind exaggerated nancial results and stop nancial fraud from even getting started.