| Course | ACC 646 Introduction to Forensic Accounting/ Fraud Exam |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 10 |
| Paper type | graduate final project recommending a fraud prevention program |
| Length | About 1,000 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MS Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ACC 646 Module 10
Fraud Risk Management Program: Recommendations to the Owner
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
ACC 646: Introduction to Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination
Final Project
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.
Fraud Risk Management Program: Recommendations to the Owner
Introduction
In one year the company found five schemes: phantom hauling loads, a dispatcher's fuel card purchases and ghost drivers, skimming at a quarry scale house and suspected kickbacks from a tire dealer. Proven and estimated losses total about $1.5 million. The owner asked for a program that prevents a repeat without burying a family business in bureaucracy. This report recommends that program, built from the schemes actually found (Kranacher & Riley, 2019). It is written for an owner-managed company with about 310 employees, no internal audit department and a controller's office of five, so every recommendation has been tested against what that team can actually run.
Governance
Prevention begins by naming who owns the risk. The owner should chair a small fraud risk committee with the controller and outside counsel that meets quarterly, adopts a written antifraud policy and reviews hotline reports and analytics results. Every manager and anyone who approves payments or vendors will sign an annual code of conduct and conflict of interest certification. The certifications will be compared with the vendor master file and HR records, which would have revealed the superintendent's relationship to the hauler in the first year.
Fraud Risk Assessment
The committee will maintain a risk register by process. The five schemes found are the starting point, ranked by likelihood and impact: vendor billing and corruption are high, payroll and cash skimming medium, card misuse low. The register will be updated each year and when the business changes, for example when new haulers or quarries are added.
Controls Matched to Schemes
Controls by scheme
| Scheme | Preventive control | Detective control | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hauling overbilling | Invoices paid only with matched scale ticket and plant receipt | Monthly report of unmatched loads and loads above truck capacity | $18,000 |
| Fuel card misuse | Cards limited to company stations and work hours | Monthly match of card transactions to telematics | $6,000 |
| Ghost employees | New hires and bank changes approved by HR outside the plant | Quarterly test of payroll bank accounts and dispatch activity | $8,000 |
| Scale house skimming | Voids require supervisor approval; cash sales on card readers | Monthly comparison of weighed tonnage to cash sales | $22,000 |
| Purchasing kickbacks | Competitive bids above $10,000; rotation of recurring vendors | Monthly analytics for payments just below approval limits | $12,000 |
These controls are inexpensive because most rely on systems the company already has; the main cost is staff time and a small software subscription. Bierstaker et al. (2006) found that practitioners rated controls such as fraud hotlines, reconciliations and analytics among the more effective prevention and detection methods, though not all were widely used.
Continuous Monitoring
A part-time analyst, shared with the controller's office, will run a monthly analytics package built from the investigation: unmatched loads, payments between $4,800 and $4,999, duplicate bank accounts across employees and vendors, vendor addresses matching employee addresses, and Benford screening of all payments. Exceptions go to the controller, with a summary to the committee. The package costs about $40,000 a year, including the analyst's time.
Hotline and Training
The investigation began with an anonymous letter, consistent with the ACFE's finding that tips are the most common detection method (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2024). The company will replace its informal tip box with a third-party hotline, by phone, web and text, in English and Spanish, available to employees, haulers and customers, at about $7,000 a year. All employees will receive 30 minutes of training each year on what to report and how, and managers will receive a longer session on red flags and the conflict policy.
Investigation Protocol
The committee will adopt a written protocol: who receives reports, how predication is assessed, when outside counsel and forensic accountants are engaged, how evidence is preserved and how subjects are treated. Having the protocol before the next allegation avoids the improvisation of this year, when it took three weeks to decide who should lead the work and records were nearly lost.
Culture and Tone at the Top
Controls address opportunity, but the case also showed rationalization at work: the superintendent's resentment after being passed over and a belief, common in family businesses, that long service earns latitude. The owner can influence that. He should explain the program to all staff himself, describe what happened in general terms without naming individuals, and make clear that the new controls apply to family members and long-tenured managers as much as anyone. Promotions and pay decisions should be explained, since perceived unfairness feeds rationalization. The committee should also recognize employees who raise concerns, starting with a private thank-you to the anonymous letter writer through the hotline's two-way messaging.
Implementation Plan
The first 90 days cover the controls tied to the largest losses: three-way matching for all haulers, scale house void approvals, the conflict of interest certification and its comparison with vendor ownership, and the hotline. By six months, the monthly analytics package, payroll bank account testing and fuel card telematics matching should be running. By twelve months, the competitive bidding policy, training for all staff and the written investigation protocol should be in place, followed by the committee's first annual review of the risk register. Each step has an owner named in the committee minutes, and progress is reported at every quarterly meeting until the program is complete.
Cost and Measures of Success
The program costs about $145,000 a year: about $66,000 for the scheme controls, $40,000 for monitoring, $7,000 for the hotline, $12,000 for training and $20,000 for committee and counsel time. Against losses of about $1.5 million found over three years, the cost is justified if it prevents a fifth of a comparable loss. Success will be measured by unmatched loads and other exceptions resolved within 30 days, hotline reports and their outcomes, annual certification completion and the absence of losses found by external parties.
Conclusion
The first three priorities are three-way matching for haulers, the conflict of interest check against vendor ownership and the third-party hotline. Each addresses a cause of this year's largest loss and can be in place within 90 days.
References
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (2024). Occupational fraud 2024: A report to the nations. Author.
Bierstaker, J. L., Brody, R. G., & Pacini, C. (2006). Accountants' perceptions regarding fraud detection and prevention methods. Managerial Auditing Journal, 21(5), 520-535. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900610667283
Kranacher, M.-J., & Riley, R. A. (2019). Forensic accounting and fraud examination (2nd ed.). Wiley.
What the ACC 646 Module 10 instructions ask for
The ACC 646 final project usually asks you to recommend a fraud prevention and detection program for the case organization, drawing on what the investigation revealed. Cover who governs fraud risk and the example leaders set, a fraud risk assessment, preventive controls, detective controls including data analytics and a reporting hotline, training, an investigation and response protocol, and how the program will be monitored. Tie each recommendation to a specific scheme or weakness found in the case, and consider cost and practicality for the organization's size. Integrate milestone feedback and write for the owner or board, who need clear priorities rather than a catalog of every possible control, along with a realistic timetable.
How this ACC 646 Module 10 final project example is built
The project assesses the five schemes found and ranks fraud risks by likelihood and impact. It recommends an owner-chaired fraud risk committee, a written antifraud policy and annual conflict of interest certifications checked against vendor ownership. Controls follow each scheme: three-way matching of hauling invoices to scale tickets and plant receipts, no voids at the scale house without a supervisor, fuel card transactions matched to telematics, payroll changes approved outside the plant and competitive bids above $10,000. A monthly analytics report screens vendor payments, duplicate bank accounts and threshold splitting. The program costs about $145,000 a year against losses of about $1.5 million found, and it is phased over twelve months.
Where the ACC 646 Module 10 rubric puts the points
Rubrics for the ACC 646 final project typically score the fraud risk assessment, governance recommendations, preventive and detective controls, use of data analytics, the reporting mechanism, training, the investigation protocol, cost and practicality, integration of the case findings and milestone feedback, and professional writing. Top submissions tie each control to a specific risk, prioritize, consider the organization's size and resources and define success in measurable terms. Graders also reward recognizing that detection by tips is often the most effective source. Graders also look for attention to culture, not only controls. Common deductions include generic control lists, recommendations a family business could not afford, ignoring detection and omitting how the program will be monitored.
ACC 646 Module 10 help: the mistakes that cost points
Prevention projects most often lose points by listing every control in a textbook instead of choosing the ones that address the schemes actually found, which signals that the case analysis did not inform the recommendations. A second weak spot is cost, especially for a private company where a full internal audit department may not be realistic. If your guidelines focus on one type of fraud, such as financial statement fraud, the same structure of governance, risk, prevention, detection and response applies. Build a table with each scheme, its control and the control's cost; a reader can then see the program's logic at a glance. A phased timetable shows the plan is achievable.
Get ACC 646 Module 10 written to your instructions
Send the ACC 646 final project guidelines and the notes you received on each milestone. The project will build a prevention and detection program from the case's actual schemes, match controls to risks, cost them and define how success is measured. Two days is the usual wait, and the first is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
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ACC 646 Module 10 questions, answered
Where can I find a free ACC 646 Module 10 Final Project sample?
This page includes a full ACC 646 final project fraud prevention program built from the case's schemes.
What are the main parts of a fraud prevention program?
Governance and tone at the top, fraud risk assessment, preventive controls, detective controls including analytics and a hotline, training, and an investigation and response protocol, with monitoring.
Why are hotlines important?
The ACFE's data consistently show that tips are the most common way occupational fraud is detected, more than audits or management review.
How should controls be chosen for a small company?
By targeting the specific schemes and weaknesses most likely to cause loss, favoring controls that are inexpensive and hard to bypass, such as automated matching and owner review.
How can a company measure whether its program works?
Through measures such as exceptions found and resolved by analytics, hotline reports and their outcomes, control test results and losses discovered over time.