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#fraud-prevention

Fraud Prevention

Proactive strategies and controls to prevent financial fraud in your business

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PCAOB Bars Auditor Jennifer Crofoot Over Skipped Engagement Quality Reviews: What It Teaches You About Vetting an Audit Firm

In December 2025 the PCAOB barred CPA Jennifer Crofoot for at least three years and fined Fruci & Associates $50,000 after four public-company audits were released without the mandatory engagement quality review under AS 1220. Here is what the second-reviewer requirement actually protects against, and five concrete questions to ask before relying on any firm's audit opinion.

mike

auditcpacompliance

PCAOB Bars Zwick CPA Over Fabricated Genie Energy Workpapers: What Audit Quality Failures Mean for Small Businesses

The PCAOB revoked Zwick CPA's registration and fined the firm $50,000 after finding its 2022 Genie Energy audit relied on the predecessor auditor's recycled workpapers with swapped names and fabricated documentation. With 61% aggregate deficiency rates at triennially inspected firms, here's how small businesses can vet the audits they rely on — and keep their own books diligence-ready.

mike

auditcpafraud-prevention

FTC Bans Air AI From Selling Business Opportunities: What the $18M AI-Washing Case Means for Buyers

The FTC's March 2026 settlement permanently bans Air AI and its owners from marketing business opportunities after buyers lost up to $250,000 on exaggerated AI earnings claims. Here's what the $18 million judgment covers, how the Business Opportunity Rule's seven-day disclosure and Earnings Claim Statement protect buyers, and a practical checklist for vetting any AI-powered business pitch.

mike

aismall-businesscompliance

Freight Broker Bookkeeping: Factoring Fees, Quick Pay, and the $700 Million Double-Brokering Problem

Freight brokers earn the spread between shipper billings and carrier cost — not gross freight value. How to book factoring (a receivable sale at 1–5% recourse, 2.5–5% non-recourse), separate quick pay discounts, track the $75,000 BMC-84/BMC-85 requirement, and use AP discipline to catch double-brokering fraud, now a $500–$700 million annual industry loss.

mike

truckingbookkeepinginvoice-financing

The FTC's Fake-Review Crackdown: What the Consumer Review Rule Means for Your Small Business

The FTC's Consumer Review Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 465) took effect October 21, 2024, and in December 2025 the agency sent its first warning letters — with civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation and no small-business exemption. A practical guide to the six prohibited practices, from rating-conditioned rewards to review gating, and a five-step compliance checklist owners can finish in a week.

mike

reviewscompliancesmall-business

FedNow and Instant Payments Are Changing Small Business Treasury: What ISO 20022 Means for Your Books in 2026

FedNow and RTP now reach roughly 75% of U.S. bank accounts, settling payments in seconds, 24/7/365, with a $10 million network transaction limit. This guide explains how ISO 20022 structured remittance data changes invoice matching and reconciliation, why irrevocable instant payments demand wire-transfer-level fraud controls, and what small businesses should ask their bank and accounting software in 2026.

mike

paymentsbankingfintech

KPMG Australia Cut Partner Pay 20% Over an Ethics Scandal. Here's How to Vet Your Own Accountant.

KPMG Australia is preparing to cut over 1,000 of roughly 10,000 jobs and reduce partner pay by up to 20% after admitting it mishandled a 2024 whistleblower complaint alleging misuse of confidential client data. The same five independence threats behind the scandal — self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, and intimidation — apply to any local CPA firm, and this guide covers the red flags plus a five-step due-diligence checklist (license lookup, peer review report, references, commission disclosure, engagement-letter scope) for vetting your own accountant.

mike

auditcpacompliance
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