ACC 646 Introduction to Forensic Accounting/ Fraud Exam sample papers, module by module

Reviewed by Portia Lambrick, MBA

ACC 646 introduces MS Accounting students to forensic accounting: investigating suspected fraud, quantifying losses and presenting findings that can stand up in a dispute. The samples below follow one composite concrete and aggregates company near Reno from an anonymous tip about a trucking vendor to a findings report and a new antifraud program.

ACC 646 is SNHU’s Introduction to Forensic Accounting/ Fraud Exam course. It centers on forensic accounting and fraud examination: the forensic accountant's role and standards, occupational fraud schemes, predication and investigation planning, fraud theory, gathering and preserving evidence, data analysis including Benford's law, tracing funds, interviewing, measuring damages, reporting findings and fraud prevention. Every module below opens a full sample paper or takes a free request for one; searches like "acc 646 module 3", "ACC646 sample paper" and "ACC 646 milestone example" land on this page.

What ACC 646 is really about

ACC 646 is SNHU's graduate introduction to forensic accounting and fraud examination, and it rewards disciplined method. Strong work starts from predication, states a hypothesis, gathers evidence in an order that protects it, quantifies what can be proven and reports facts without opinions on guilt. A paper that jumps to a conclusion or calls someone a thief before the evidence is assembled loses the credit this course gives for process.

The samples on this shelf share one composite company, a family-owned producer of crushed stone, sand and ready-mix concrete with two quarries and four batch plants near Reno, about $86 million of revenue and a fleet of mixer trucks supplemented by contract haulers. An anonymous tip about one of those haulers starts the year's work. The company and its figures are illustrative.

What ACC 646’s modules ask for

Across ten modules, ACC 646 typically asks for discussions on the forensic accountant's role, fraud theory and interviewing, assignments classifying schemes, handling evidence and measuring damages, three final project milestones planning an investigation, analyzing evidence and reporting findings, and a final project recommending a fraud prevention program.

Where students lose points in ACC 646

The most common ACC 646 deduction is reaching a conclusion about guilt, which is for a court or trier of fact, instead of reporting what the evidence shows. The second is evidence handling that would not survive challenge, such as working on original records without a chain of custody. Graders also mark down loss figures that mix proven and estimated amounts. Separating facts, analysis and limits in every paper fixes most of these.

The ACC 646 drawers

Module 1

ACC 646 Module 1 Discussion example

An opening post contrasting forensic accounting with auditing through a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company whose clean audit opinion sat beside a contract hauler billing for loads never delivered: the different objectives, scope, evidence standards and products of the two roles, the AICPA forensic services standard and its limit on opinions about guilt, and the skills the work demands, with Kranacher and Riley, DiGabriele and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 2

ACC 646 Module 2 Fraud Tree Assignment example

A fraud tree assignment for a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company after an anonymous tip opened a review: a contract hauler billing for phantom loads, a dispatcher's fuel card purchases, two ghost drivers on a batch plant payroll, cash sales of aggregate at a quarry scale house and a purchasing agent's kickbacks from a tire dealer, each classified on the ACFE's occupational fraud tree, with red flags, the controls that failed and the order for investigation, with the ACFE report, Kranacher and Riley and Golden, Skalak and Clayton. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 3

ACC 646 Module 3 Milestone One example

A first final project milestone planning the investigation of a contract hauler suspected of billing a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company for about 1,070 loads it never delivered: predication, engagement through counsel to protect privilege, the fraud theory to test, objectives and scope, an evidence plan ordered from documents and data to third parties and interviews, legal limits on employee and vendor inquiries, staffing, budget and timeline, grounded in the Golden investigation guide, the ACFE manual and the Kranacher and Riley text. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 4

ACC 646 Module 4 Discussion example

A discussion post on why long-tenured, trusted employees commit fraud, built around a composite Reno-area concrete company's north quarry superintendent of 22 years: Cressey's fraud triangle of pressure, opportunity and rationalization, the capability element added in later models, what the ACFE's data say about tenure and losses, the danger of treating the triangle as proof, and what the company can change, with Cressey, Dorminey, Fleming, Kranacher and Riley and the ACFE report. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 5

ACC 646 Module 5 Evidence Assignment example

An evidence assignment for the hauling investigation at a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company: documentary, electronic and testimonial evidence, chain of custody and hash-verified forensic images under NIST guidance, the business records rule, why Benford's law is the wrong test for invoices priced at $600 a load, the capacity and closure-day tests that work instead, and a Benford first-two-digits test of 38,000 vendor payments that flags a spike below the $5,000 approval limit, with Kent, Chevalier, Grance and Dang, Nigrini and Casey. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 6

ACC 646 Module 6 Milestone Two example

A second final project milestone analyzing the evidence in the hauling investigation at a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company: 9,800 invoiced loads matched to scale tickets and batch plant receipts, 1,830 loads with no support and $1,098,000 of proven loss, 370 unsupported loads reported separately, the hauler's bank records obtained by subpoena, $412,000 traced to an LLC owned by the superintendent's wife, the uses of those funds and what remains unproven, drawing on the ACFE manual, the Golden investigation guide and the Kranacher and Riley text. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 7

ACC 646 Module 7 Discussion example

A discussion post on preparing the admission-seeking interview of a quarry superintendent in a composite Reno-area concrete company's hauling investigation: why it comes last, the steps from a direct accusation through rationalization themes to a signed statement, what interviewers may and may not do in a private company, how false confessions arise and how evidence-based interviewing guards against them, with Kassin and Gudjonsson, the ACFE's Fraud Examiners Manual and Kranacher and Riley. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 8

ACC 646 Module 8 Damages Assignment example

A damages assignment measuring a composite Reno-area ready-mix company's lost profits after its cement supplier cut deliveries for seven weeks during a regional shortage in breach of contract: the but-for and actual volumes, incremental margin of $70 a cubic yard, the share of lost pours that were only delayed, mitigation costs of buying substitute cement at a premium, the reasonable certainty standard, prejudgment interest and how the analysis would be defended against a challenge to the expert, with Weil, Lentz and Hoffman, the AICPA forensic services standard and Kranacher and Riley. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 9

ACC 646 Module 9 Milestone Three example

A third final project milestone presenting the findings report on the hauling investigation at a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company: scope and procedures, the matching of 9,800 loads, $1,098,000 of proven overbilling and $222,000 unsupported, $412,000 traced to the superintendent's household, what the hauler's owner and the superintendent said in interview, the control failures, the limits of the work and why the report states facts without concluding anyone committed fraud, with the AICPA forensic services standard, the ACFE manual and the Golden investigation guide. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 10

ACC 646 Module 10 Final Project example

A final project recommending a fraud prevention and detection program for a composite Reno-area concrete and aggregates company after a year in which a hauling vendor, a dispatcher, a scale operator and a purchasing agent were all found in schemes: fraud risk governance, a scheme-by-scheme risk assessment, preventive and detective controls matched to each scheme, continuous data monitoring, a better hotline, training and an investigation protocol, with costs and a measure of success for each, with the ACFE report, Bierstaker, Brody and Pacini and Kranacher and Riley. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Using a ACC 646 sample the right way

Read an ACC 646 sample by separating what the evidence proves from what it suggests, and noting where the paper states the difference. When that line is kept, the sample shows the discipline the course grades. For ACC 646, send the case, the guidelines and the rubric, and the first custom sample comes back free within 24-48h.

ACC 646 questions, answered

What does ACC 646 cover?

The forensic accountant's role and standards, occupational fraud schemes, investigation planning, evidence and data analysis, interviewing, damages measurement, reporting and fraud prevention.

Do ACC 646 papers need legal knowledge?

Some: the elements of fraud, rules of evidence and the limits on an expert's opinions come up, though the focus stays on accounting method.

Is ACC 646 the same as an auditing course?

No. Auditing aims at reasonable assurance on financial statements; forensic accounting investigates specific allegations and quantifies losses for disputes, often in legal settings.