Introduction to Accounting Fraud 101
- Fake Accounting: Occurs when individuals or organizations manipulate financial statements or accounting records to present a a false and misleading picture of their financial health. It is done in a variety of ways with each with its own methods and implications.
- Rise of the Machines: In today’s ever-evolving financial landscape, fake accounting remains a significant concern. With advancements in technology, fraudulent activities have become more sophisticated, making it challenging to detect deceitful practices. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of fake accounting, you can better equip yourself to recognize and combat these fraudulent activities effectively.
- Safeguarding Reputations: Being aware of accounting fraud can help you maintain the integrity of your financial reporting and safeguard your company’s reputation. It is essential to stay informed about the latest trends and techniques used in fraudulent accounting to preemptively address potential threats.
- Unethical and Illegal: The intentional manipulation of financial statements to artificially pump the stock price is highly unethical and violates the federal securities laws such as the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, among others.
- Cascading Consequences: The destruction extends beyond immediate monetary penalties. Aggressive Revenue Recognition inflicts substantial losses that eliminate investment opportunities, destroy growth prospects, and frequently culminate in organizational bankruptcy. The reputational damage often exceeds legal penalties in severity, systematically undermining trust and credibility among all stakeholder groups.
Types of Accounting Fraud
- Financial Statement Fraud: This type of fraud involves the intentional misrepresentation of financial statements to present a more favorable picture of a company’s financial health. Common methods include:
- Understating Liabilities: Hiding or minimizing liabilities to enhance the company’s apparent profitability.
- Revenues: Recognizing revenue before it is earned or through fictitious transactions.
- Improper Asset Valuation:Misstating the value of assets, such as inventory or accounts receivable, to mislead keholders.
- Asset Misappropriation: Is the theft or misuse of an organization’s resources. This can include:
- Cash Skimming: Taking cash before it is recorded in the book
- Fraudulent Disbursements: Creating fake vendor accounts or manipulating payroll to siphon funds.
- Inventory Theft: Stealing physical assets or manipulating inventory records,
- Corruption: This involves unethical conduct by individuals in power, often characterized by:
- Bribery: Offering or receiving something of value to influence business decisions
- Collusion: Working with external parties to commit fraud, undermining public trust and financial integrity.
- Payroll Fraud: This type of fraud occurs when false payroll records are reported. Examples include:
- Creating Fake Employees: Listing non-existent employees to siphon funds.
- Overstating Working Hours: Reporting more hours than actually worked to inflate payroll expenses.
- Reimbursement Fraud: Employees may submit fake or inflated expense claims to gain personal benefits. This can involve:
- Submitting Non-Existent Expenses: Claiming reimbursement for expenses that were never incurred.
- Inflating Actual Expenses: Exaggerating legitimate expenses to receive more reimbursement than deserved.
Aggressive Revenue Practices
- Channel stuffing: Is a deceptive practice where companies artificially inflate sales by flooding their distribution channels with excessive inventory. This can be achieved by offering customers incentives, such as discounts or extended payment terms, to encourage them to purchase more goods than they actually need.
- Manipulation of Timing: Companies may delay the recognition of revenue from one period to another, falsely inflating the financial performance of a particular reporting period.
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Premature Revenue Recognition: Recognizing revenue before it’s earned, such as a software company recognizing revenue from a long-term contract before the software is fully implemented.
- Inconsistent Cash Flow: If revenue is up but cash collections lag, it could be a sign of aggressive revenue recognition.
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Hidden Liabilities: Off-balance sheet items can hide liabilities or shift debt off the books, providing a fae sense of financial stability.
- Improper Capitalization of Operating Expenses: This accounting machination involves a company incorrectly treating normal operating expenses as capital expenditures so that the expense is not immediately recognized on the income statement, but instead spread out over many years as depreciation or amortization.
- Side Agreements or Letters: These agreements are undisclosed terms that alter the substance of a sales contract. These agreements can create contingencies that nullify the sale, such as granting an unconditional right of return or forgiving payment if the product is not resold.
- Improper Cutoff Practices: Involves keeping the books open past the end of an accounting period to record sales from the next period in the current one
- Overstating revenues: Recording fictitious sales or recognizing revenue prematurely to inflate profits.
- Understating expenses or liabilities: Concealing costs or obligations to make the company’s financial performance look better.Improper asset valuation: Artificially inflating the value of a company’s assets on the balance sheet
Taking a Hard Look at the Risk of Committing Accounting Fraud
- Fraudulent Activities: While creative accounting may offer short-term benefits, it poses significant risks that can undermine the financial health of an organization. One of the primary dangers is the potential for accounting fraud, where creative accounting crosses into illegal territory. When companies prioritize appearance over substance, they may engage in fraudulent activities that can lead to severe legal and financial repercussions.
- Reputational Damages: Another risk associated with accounting fraud is the erosion of trust. Investors, regulators, and stakeholders rely on accurate financial reporting to make informed decisions. When accounting fraud practices are uncovered, it can damage a company’s reputation and lead to a loss of investor confidence. This loss of trust can have long-lasting effects, making it difficult for the organization to recover.
- Major Risk Assessment: Moreover, accounting fraud can create a false sense of financial stability. By manipulating financial statements, companies may hide underlying issues such as excessive debt, poor cash flow, or declining sales. These hidden problems can eventually surface, leading to financial distress or even bankruptcy. Understanding these risks is crucial for maintaining the integrity of financial reporting and safeguarding your organization’s future.
The Impact on Investors from the Effects of Accounting Fraud on Financial Statements
- Intentionally Misleading Shareholders: Accounting fraud can significantly distort the true financial performance and position of a company. When financial statements are manipulated, they provide a misleading view of a company’s health, which can have far-reaching consequences for stakeholders.
- Investor Reliance on Accounting Fraud: For investors, distorted financial statements can lead to poor investment decisions. If a company’s earnings are artificially inflated, investors may believe the company is more profitable than it truly is, leading to overvaluation and potential financial loss. Similarly, creditors may underestimate the risk of lending to a company with manipulated financial statements, leading to increased exposure to default.
- Entire Section Effected: Another impact of creative accounting is its potential to skew industry benchmarks and ratios. When companies engage in creative accounting, it can affect industry averages and distort comparisons between companies. This can make it challenging for analysts and investors to assess a company’s performance relative to its peers accurately.
- The Impact of Accounting Fraud: Ultimately, the integrity of financial statements is crucial for maintaining market confidence. By understanding the impact of creative accounting on financial statements, you can better navigate the financial landscape and make informed decisions that align with your financial goals.
The Importance of Robust Internal Controls and Creating an Atmosphere of Ethics and Integrity
Key components of robust internal controls
- Control environment: The “tone at the top” that establishes a commitment to integrity and ethical values across the organization.
- Risk assessment:The process of identifying and analyzing risks to financial reporting and operations, allowing for the development of mitigating controls.
- Access controls: Limiting access to financial information and systems to only those who need it for their job.
- Documented procedures: Clearly defining and documenting policies to ensure consistency and understanding of roles.
- Control activities: Specific policies and procedures to prevent or detect errors and fraud. This includes:
- Segregation of duties: No single person has control over all aspects of a critical financial transaction.
Information and communication: Ensuring relevant financial information is captured and shared effectively, both internally and externally.Monitoring: Continuously evaluating the effectiveness of internal controls through ongoing evaluations, audits, and feedback to identify and address any weaknesses.
- Segregation of duties: No single person has control over all aspects of a critical financial transaction.
Benefits of strong internal controls
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Controls help prevent unauthorized transactions and misstatements and can quickly identify errors.
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Ensures reliable financial reporting: Controls provide reasonable assurance that financial statements are accurate and reliable.
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Improves operational efficiency: streamlining workflows and automating routine tasks, controls can save time and resources.
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Promotes compliance:
Ensures adherence to applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
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Builds stakeholder confidence:Demonstrates responsible financial management to investors, regulators, and other stakeholders.
The Consequences of Weak Internal Controls
Severe Consequences: Weak internal controls can have significant consequences for your organization including ending up in costly securities fraud litigation.
- They increase the risk of fraud, errors, and inefficiencies, potentially leading to financial losses and reputational damage.
- Without robust controls, your organization is vulnerable to operational disruptions, compliance failures, and strategic misalignments.

Restatement of Financials: One of the most severe consequences of weak internal controls is financial misstatement. Inaccurate financial reporting can lead to securities litigation, regulatory enforcement, loss of investor confidence, and regulatory penalties. Furthermore, weak controls can result in unauthorized transactions, asset misappropriation, and other fraudulent activities.
Lack of Accountability: In addition to financial repercussions, weak internal controls can impact employee morale and organizational culture. A lack of accountability and oversight can lead to ethical lapses, creating an environment of distrust and disengagement. By strengthening internal controls, you can mitigate these risks and protect your organization’s interests.
Common Financial Statement Fraud Schemes
| Scheme Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Fictitious Revenue | Recording non-existent sales | Counterfeit sales transactions, Bill and hold arrangements |
| Premature Revenue Recognition | Recording revenue before earned | Accelerating revenue before service delivery |
| Channel Stuffing | Forcing excess inventory to distributors | Shipping excessive product to boost quarterly sales |
| Asset Overstatement | Inflating asset values | Phantom inventory, inadequate depreciation |
| Liability Concealment | Hiding financial obligations | Unrecorded debt, understated warranty liabilities |
| Material Omissions | Withholding critical information | Undisclosed related party transactions |
| Journal Entry Manipulation | Falsifying accounting records | Last-minute entries near reporting deadlines |
The Role of Securities Litigation in Addressing Accounting Fraud
- Securities Litigation: Serves as a critical mechanism for addressing cases of accounting fraud.
- Legal Avenue: Securities litigation provides a legal avenue for investors and other stakeholders to seek redress when they have been misled by fraudulent financial reporting.
- Securities litigation and Regulatory Enforcement: Can take various forms, including class-action lawsuits, enforcement actions by regulatory bodies, and arbitration proceedings. This case can settle in the hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of millions to defend.
Financial Statement Fraud: Key Data Visualizations
| Fraud Type | Frequency (% of Cases) | Median Loss |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Misappropriation | 89% | $120,000 |
| Corruption | 48% | $200,000 |
| Financial Statement Fraud | 5% | $766,000 |
Developing Robust Internal Controls
Pivotal Role of Corporate Governance: In an ever-evolving corporate landscape, internal governance plays a pivotal role.
- It encompasses the processes, policies, and regulations that ensure an organization operates efficiently and ethically.
- Effective internal governance is crucial as it builds trust among stakeholders and enhances organizational integrity.
- By fostering a culture of accountability, you can significantly mitigate the risks associated with operational failures and misconduct.
Internal governance is not just about compliance with laws and regulations but also about nurturing a robust organizational culture. It empowers you to manage resources effectively, ensuring that the strategic goals of your organization align with ethical practices. As businesses face increasing scrutiny, strengthening internal governance becomes crucial to maintaining a competitive edge.
- The importance of internal governance extends beyond mere compliance.
- It is about creating a sustainable framework that supports long-term growth and stability.
- By emphasizing governance, you can improve decision-making processes, enhance transparent communications, and ultimately drive business success.
What Are Internal Controls?
Internal controls are mechanisms put in place to ensure the reliability and integrity of financial and operational information. They help safeguard assets, ensure the accuracy of financial records, and promote operational efficiency. Implementing strong internal controls is essential to prevent fraud, errors, and inefficiencies within your organization.
These controls can be classified into preventive, detective, and corrective controls.
- Preventive controls aim to deter errors or irregularities from occurring.
- Detective controls are designed to identify errors that have already occurred, while corrective controls focus on rectifying identified anomalies.
- By understanding these categories, you can develop a comprehensive internal control framework tailored to your organization’s needs.
Moreover, internal controls are integral to achieving strategic goals. They provide a structured approach to risk management, allowing you to anticipate potential challenges and respond proactively. By embedding these controls into your operations, you create a resilient framework that adapts to changing business environments.
The Role of Internal Controls in Corporate Governance
Corporate governance refers to the system by which companies are directed and controlled.
- Internal controls are a fundamental component of this system, ensuring that the interests of stakeholders are protected.
- They provide a mechanism for accountability and oversight, crucial for maintaining investor confidence and safeguarding your organization’s reputation.
- Internal controls support corporate governance by promoting transparency and accountability.
- They ensure that management’s actions are consistent with the company’s policies and objectives.
- By doing so, they enhance the board’s ability to monitor performance and make informed decisions, thereby aligning management’s actions with shareholder interests.
Furthermore, internal controls play a critical role in mitigating risks associated with financial reporting.
- They ensure the reliability of financial statements, providing assurance to investors and regulators.
- In an era where corporate scandals can lead to significant financial and reputational damage, robust internal controls are indispensable to maintaining trust and credibility.
Key Components of Strong Internal Controls
Building effective internal controls involves several key components. These components form the backbone of a strong internal control system, ensuring that your organization operates efficiently and ethically.
- Control Environment: This is the foundation of any internal control system. It includes the organization’s values, integrity, and ethical standards. A strong control environment sets the tone for the entire organization, emphasizing the importance of internal controls.
- Risk Assessment: Identifying and assessing risks is crucial to implementing effective internal controls. By understanding potential threats, you can develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring that your organization is well-prepared to face challenges.
- Control Activities: These are the policies and procedures put in place to address identified risks. Control activities ensure that management directives are carried out effectively, preventing errors and irregularities.
- Information and Communication: Effective internal controls rely on timely and accurate information. Ensuring that relevant information is communicated to the right people is vital for decision-making and accountability.
- Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of internal controls is essential to ensure their effectiveness. Regular assessments help identify areas for improvement, ensuring that your internal control system remains relevant and robust.
By focusing on these components, you can implement a comprehensive internal control framework that supports your organizational objectives.
Best Practices for Maintaining Internal Controls
Ongoing Vigilance: Maintaining effective internal controls requires ongoing commitment and vigilance. Here are some best practices to ensure the sustainability of your internal control framework:
- Regularly Review and Update Controls: Continuously assess the effectiveness of your internal controls and make necessary adjustments to address emerging risks and challenges.
- Provide Training and Awareness: Educate employees about the importance of internal controls and their role in maintaining organizational integrity. Regular training sessions can help reinforce the significance of internal controls and ensure compliance.
- Foster a Culture of Accountability: Encourage employees to take ownership of their responsibilities and hold them accountable for their actions. A culture of accountability promotes ethical behavior and supports the effectiveness of internal controls.
- Leverage Technology: Utilize technology to automate control processes and enhance efficiency. Implementing advanced data analytics can help identify anomalies and support decision-making.
- Engage Stakeholders: Involve stakeholders in the development and implementation of internal controls. Their input can provide valuable insights and enhance the effectiveness of your control framework.
Best Practices: By adhering to these best practices, you can maintain a robust internal control system that supports your organization’s objectives and mitigates risks.
The Main Objectives of Securities Litigation
- Primary Objective: The primary objective of securities litigation is to hold companies and their executives accountable for fraudulent activities.
- Accountability: Securities litigation causers accountability can deter future misconduct by signaling to other market participants that unethical behavior will be met with legal consequences.
- Compensation: Additionally, securities litigation can result in financial compensation for affected investors, helping to restore some of the losses incurred due to misleading information.
The Eight Biggest Triggers to Securities Litigation
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Asset Valuation Manipulation |
Asset valuation manipulation is the intentional misrepresentation of an asset’s value for fraudulent purposes, such as misleading investors, obscuring illicit funds, or inflating a company’s financial health. Common methods include overstating assets, manipulating accounting assumptions in cash flow analysis, and misrepresenting liabilities, often leading to significant financial losses when the true value is eventually revealed |
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Off-Balance-Sheet Schems |
Off-balance-sheet (OBS) schemes are legal accounting methods used by companies to keep certain assets and liabilities from appearing on their main balance sheet. By doing this, a company can improve its financial ratios, such as its debt-to-equity ratio, to appear more attractive to investors and lenders. |
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Material Omissions |
A material omission is the failure to provide important facts or information that, if known, would likely influence a reasonable person’s decision in a significant way, such as in an investment or contract. This failure can create a misleading impression, and in legal and financial contexts, it can lead to penalties and liability, especially if there was a duty to disclose the information, as seen in securities law. |
| Timing Manipulation |
Timing manipulation in financial statements involves intentionally altering the timing of revenue recognition and expense recognition to misrepresent a company’s financial performance. Common methods include recording revenue prematurely, deferring expenses to a future period, and manipulating asset valuations or provisions to achieve desired earnings targets, which can be unethical or illegal. |
| Cookie Jar Reserves |
Cookie jar reserves are an accounting practice where companies create hidden reserves by overstating expenses or understating revenues in profitable periods to artificially smooth earnings and boost reported profits in subsequent, less profitable periods. This form of earnings management is a form of financial statement manipulation that can mislead investors, as seen in cases involving Dell and Xerox, and is illegal when used to deceive stakeholders. |
| Expense Capitalization | Expense capitalization is an accounting method where a company records a cost as an asset on the balance sheet instead of an immediate expense on the income statement. This is done for expenditures that provide future economic benefits over multiple accounting periods, such as buying equipment or a building. The cost is then gradually expensed over the asset’s useful life through depreciation. |
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Asset Valuation Manipulation |
Asset valuation manipulation is the fraudulent alteration of an asset’s value to mislead investors, conceal illegal activities, or manipulate financial reporting. This can involve artificially inflating or deflating the price of securities, high-value goods like art, or real estate by creating fake transactions or misrepresenting inventory. It is often used in schemes like Ponzi schemes to keep the operation afloat, to qualify for loans, or to meet performance targets tied to bonuses. |
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Round-Trip Transactions |
A round-trip transaction is a series of financial transactions that end with the participants in the same financial position they began in, creating no genuine economic benefit. While it can simply refer to the cost of a purchase and sale, it is often used as a deceptive scheme to create the false appearance of revenue, activity, or investment. In fraudulent accounting and market manipulation, the term “round-tripping” or “circular trading” is widely associated with unethical and illegal activities. This was a key part of the notorious Enron accounting scandal. |
THE SECURITIES LITIGATION PROCESS
| Filing the Complaint | A lead plaintiff files a lawsuit on behalf of similarly affected shareholders, detailing the allegations against the company. |
| Motion to Dismiss | Defendants typically file a motion to dismiss the securities class action lawsuits, arguing that the complaint lacks sufficient claims. |
| Discovery | If the motion to dismiss is denied, both parties gather evidence, documents, emails, and witness testimonies. This phase of securities litigation can be extensive. |
| Motion for Class Certification | Plaintiffs request that the court to certify the securities litigation as a class action. The court assesses factors like the number of plaintiffs, commonality of claims, typicality of claims, and the adequacy of the proposed class representation. |
| Summary Judgment and Trial | Once the class is certified, the parties may file motions for summary judgment. If the securities litigation is not settled, it proceeds to trial, which is rare for securities class actions. |
| Settlement Negotiations and Approval | Most securities litigation cases are resolved through settlements, negotiated between the parties, often with the help of a mediator. The court must review and grant preliminary approval to ensure the settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable. |
| Class Notice | If the court grants preliminary approval, notice of the settlement in the securities litigation is sent to all class members in the securities litigation, often by mail, informing them about the terms and how to file a claim. |
| Final Approval Hearing | The court conducts a final hearing to review any objections and grant final approval of the settlement of the securities litigation. |
| Claims Administration and Distribution | A court-appointed claims administrator manages the process of sending notices, processing claims from eligible class members, and distributing the settlement funds. The distribution is typically on a pro-rata basis based on recognized losses. |
Market Impact After Fraud Exposure
Stock Price Impact After Fraud Disclosure
| Time Period | Average Stock Price Decline |
|---|---|
| Immediate Impact (1 Day) | 5-10% |
| Short-Term Impact (20 Days) | 12.3% |
| Companies with Settlements | 14.6-20.6% |
| Companies Later Cleared | 7.2% |
| Extreme Cases (e.g., Luckin Coffee) | 80%+ |
Accounting Fraud: Real-World Examples
Enron
- The Enron scandal remains the quintessential example of howomissions in financial statements can devastate markets and investors.
- The energy company employed sophisticated accounting fraud schemes, including the use of special purpose entities (SPEs) to hide over $1 billion in debt from its balance sheets.
- These corporate scandals involved deliberate omissions of critical financial information that painted a false picture of the company’s financial health.
- Key Legal Precedents Established:
- Enhanced auditor independence requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- Stricter CEO and CFO certification of financial statements
- Whistleblower protection provisions that encouraged internal reporting of fraud
- The securities litigation that followed resulted in one of the largest bankruptcy proceedings in U.S. history, with investors losing approximately $74 billion in market value.
- The case established crucial precedents for regulatory compliance, particularly regarding the disclosure of off-balance-sheet transactions and the independence of external auditors.
Under Armour
- The scandal: For several years leading up to 2017, the athletic apparel maker Under Armour used a practice known as “pulling forward” sales from future quarters to meet analysts’ revenue targets. After it became impossible to sustain the practice, the company reported a significant drop in revenue growth in 2017. An SEC investigation revealed that company executives were aware of the practices and misled investors and analysts by attributing revenue growth to other factors.
- The litigation: Following the revelations, Under Armour faced both an SEC enforcement action and a securities class action lawsuit from investors. The company agreed to a $9 million penalty in the SEC case and, in 2024, settled the shareholder suit for a record-setting $434 million.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What are internal controls?
Internal controls comprise the plan of organization and all coordinated methods adopted within a business to:
- Safeguard assets
- Check the accuracy and reliability of accounting data
- Promote operational efficiency
- Encourage adherence to prescribed managerial policies
In simpler terms, internal controls are anything we do to help achieve our objectives—logical, common-sense procedures applied to business processes.
2. What is the purpose of internal controls?
Internal controls serve four primary purposes:
- To protect the organization’s assets
- To ensure records are accurate
- To promote operational efficiency
- To encourage adherence to policies and procedures
3. What are the different types of internal controls?
There are two main types of internal controls:
Preventative Controls: Designed to discourage errors or irregularities from occurring.
Example: Processing vouchers only after obtaining approval signatures.
Detective Controls: Designed to find errors or irregularities after they have occurred.
Example: Reconciling monthly account statements.
4. Who is responsible for internal controls?
Internal controls are the responsibility of management, not internal auditors. Every employee plays a role in either strengthening or weakening the organization’s internal control system. Internal auditors evaluate controls and make recommendations for improvements, but implementation and maintenance remain management’s responsibility.
5. What are the five components of the COSO Internal Control Framework?
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Framework identifies five essential components:
- Control Environment: Sets the tone for the organization, influencing control consciousness
- Risk Assessment: Involves identification and analysis of relevant risks
- Control Activities: Policies and procedures that help ensure management directives are carried out
- Information and Communication: Systems supporting identification, capture, and exchange of information
- Monitoring Activities: Processes that assess internal control quality over time
6. How does internal control relate to risk management?
The internal control system forms the foundation of risk management. It supports management in controlling and managing risks inherent in business activities. Organizations determine their goals, identify internal risks that might prevent achieving them, and implement control measures to mitigate these risks.
7. What is the relationship between internal control and internal audit?
Internal control and internal audit are different but complementary concepts:
- Internal control is built into processes and workflows, influenced by people, and used to achieve business objectives
- Internal audit evaluates the effectiveness and appropriateness of internal controls
While internal control constitutes a foundation of organizational institutionalization, internal audit assesses the quality and appropriateness of those controls.
8. How can an organization ensure it has appropriate controls?
Organizations can ensure appropriate controls by:
- Performing self-assessments of controls
- Requesting an internal audit for an independent assessment
- Participating in internal control training sessions
- Regularly reviewing and updating control procedures
9. What questions should be asked about cash management controls?
Key questions regarding cash management controls include:
- Who is responsible for receiving and depositing cash or checks?
- Who performs bank reconciliations, and who reviews them?
- Who has access to bank accounts, and who can authorize payments?
- Who counts cash from fundraisers or donations, and who ensures proper recording and deposit?
Recent Trends in Filings and Securities Class Action Settlements
Increase in Filings of Securities Class Actions
In 2024, there were 229 new federal securities class action lawsuits filed, maintaining the same level as the previous year. Notably, the technology and healthcare sectors accounted for a significant portion of these filings, reflecting ongoing scrutiny in these industries.
Filing Activity:
- Overall Filings: The total number of federal securities class action filings in 2024 remained consistent with 2023 at 229 cases. This number is lower than the peak years of 2017-2019 but in line with the trend observed since 2021.
- Technology And Healthcare Sectors: Securities filings against the technology and healthcare sectors combined accounted for more than half of all filings, and the Second and Ninth Circuits accounted for 61% of filings.
- Aggregate Settlements: Aggregate settlements totaled $3.8 billion in 2024. However, the top 10 settlements accounting for roughly 60% of this amount.
- Shift in Focus: Instead of primarily targeting newly public companies (as seen in the 2020-2022 period), plaintiffs have shifted their focus towards larger, more established corporations across various industries.
- Median Investor Losses: The median losses for investors was approximately $1.76 billion. This amount represents the highest reported value over the past 10 years.

Industry Trends:
- The Technology sector continues to be the most frequently sued industry, surpassing its 10-year average.
- The Consumer Non-Cyclical sector, including biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, saw the most filings in 2024, representing a 24% increase year-over-year. Biotechnology companies, in particular, experienced a rise in filings in the second half of 2024.
- The percentage of “Health and Technology Services” and “Electronic Technology and Technology Services” filings increased in 2024, reaching levels last seen in 2021.
- Finance sector filings decreased from 18% in 2023 to 10% in 2024.







