The Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 2002 - 1356 Words

Financial Statement Fraud Over the past decade the world has been taken by surprise by the numerous accounting scandals that have occurred, for example, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Xerox, and Global Crossing (Suyanto, 2009, p. 118). Since those accounting scandals occurred the United States Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) to help improve a company’s corporate governance and help deter fraud (Chinniah, 2015, p.2). In addition to SOX, the Accounting Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) passed the Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99 (p. 118). Both of these new accounting laws help to deter financial statement fraud from occurring. Background Suyanto noted the number of financial statement fraud†¦show more content†¦0). According to Chinniah, there has been a lot more financial statement fraud cases due to the pressures placed on managers by the shareholders, increasing competition among other companies, the significance of meeting analyst forecast for net income, and the increasing public expectations of that specific company to perform above industry standards (p. 0). Companies with the expectations of having higher standards are finding themselves facing legal and economic consequences for committing immoral and illegal activities (p. 0). Furthermore, Chinniah discusses the two principle categories of behavior committed by the employees who prepare the financial statements: macro-manipulation and micro-manipulation (p. 1). Both the macro and micro manipulation occur when the financial statement preparers are only interested in benefiting themselves (p. 1). Hogan, Rezaee, Riley, and Velury (2008) noted the development of the auditing standards created due to the financial scandals that have occurred over the years. However, the authors note even with the development of SOX and SAS No. 99 there still does not appear to be a decline in financial statement fraud (232). Purpose of Research and Research Questions The general purpose of this research is to determine the cause for financial statement fraud. In addition, the purpose is to review ways fraudulent behavior can be detected and prevented. Lastly,