Knowledge analysis of accounting students about red flags in the investigative process of fraud

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Meire Regina Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Moreira , Caritsa Scartaty, Souza, Jocykleber Meireles de, Duarte, Camilla Araújo Amaral
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Ambiente Contábil
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/ambiente/article/view/26787
• topic: Accounting fraud; Agency theory; Red flags; Audit; Accounting experience; Red Flags; Accounting Fraud; Agency Theory; Fraude contable; Teoría de la Agencia; Banderas rojas; Auditoría; Experiencia contable; Red Flags; Fraude contable; Teoría de la Agencia; Fraudes Contábeis. Teoria da Agência. Red Flags. Auditoria. Perícia Contábil.; Red Flags; Fraudes Contábeis; Teoria da Agência

Purpose: This research aims to analyze the perceptions of Accounting Science students, from public universities in the city of Mossoró/RN, about red flags in the investigative process of accounting fraud. Methodology: The sample consisted of 90 students from two public universities. Data collection took place through a questionnaire, which had 45 red flags, divided into six groups, evaluated on the Likert-type scale. For each 'red flag', a level of knowledge was assigned, as follows: No knowledge (0), Very low (1), Low (2), Medium (3), High (4) and Very high (5). Subsequently, for the analysis of the results, descriptive statistics were used, with calculation of the mean, median, mode and standard deviation. Results: The interpretation of the findings showed that the academics understand at the "average" level the signs of fraud related to accounting reports and independent audit services. In this sense, comparing the averages, it can be seen that students have a greater perception of knowledge about inadequate records, incomplete files, excessive adjustments in accounting and unrecorded transactions. In addition, students also perceive, to an “average” degree, the influence of the character and ethics of the resource agents (managers) in the elaboration and transfer of information. However, they present deficits in terms of understanding the red flags associated with the market segment in which the entities are inserted. Contributions of the Study: The advance that the present study provides is to accentuate the discussion regarding the level of mastery, of the students, on the financial frauds that incur in losses for the entities. Thus, the relevance of this research is to expose the deficits self-assessed by Accounting undergraduates, regarding red flags in the organizational environment, providing results that encourage the coordination of the Courses to mitigate the deficits resulting from low levels of knowledge about fraud indicators.