Fraud Risk Assessment
Fraud risk assessments have become essential in today’s corporate environment, but many companies still struggle with understanding who should be responsible for them and how to conduct them effectively. COSO’s 2013 framework, specifically Principle 8, places the responsibility on management to evaluate fraud risk, yet many organizations rely on internal audits to handle this task.
Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, following major scandals like Enron, fraud prevention and detection have remained a critical focus, especially with the rise of cyber fraud and the challenges posed by remote work. The updated COSO 2013 framework expanded internal control objectives and emphasized a top-down risk assessment approach, as reinforced by PCAOB Auditing Standard 5. However, identifying all potential fraud scenarios remains complex, and relying solely on internal audit assessments may not meet COSO’s latest guidelines, requiring organizations to take a more comprehensive approach.
Lynn Fountain has over 45 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 24 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Ms. Fountain has held two Chief Audit Executive positions for international companies. In 2011, as the Chief Audit Executive for an international construction/ engineering firm, she was involved in the active investigation of a joint venture fraud. The investigation included work with the FBI and ultimately led to indictment of the perpetrators and recovery of $13M. Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own training and consulting business and is a regular trainer for the AICPA. Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations” was published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation. -“Leading The Internal Audit Function” and -“Ethics and The Internal Auditor Political Dilemma” were published by Taylor & Francis In addition Ms. Fountain was a contributing author to the certification program exam for the National Association of Accountants. She also has certificate programs on various on-line platforms. Ms. Fountain has performed as an adjunct instructor for the School of Business for Grantham University and developed the first internal audit curriculum for the School of Business at the University of Kansas. Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CGMA, CRMA credentials and CPA certificate (non-active).
