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According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, financial statement fraud represents the smallest amount of fraud cases but results in the greatest monetary loss. The researcher previously investigated the characteristics of financial statement fraud and determined the presence of 16 fraud indicators. The purpose of this study is to establish whether investors and other stakeholders can detect and identify financial statement fraud using these characteristics in an analysis of a company’s annual report.

This study analyses a financial statement fraud case, using the same techniques that were previously applied, including horizontal, vertical and ratio analysis. These are preferred because stakeholders have relatively easy access to them.

The findings show several fraud characteristics, with a few additional ones not previously found prevalent. Financial statement fraud thus tends to differ between cases. It is also easier to detect and identify fraud indicators ex post facto.

This study is a practical case showing that financial statement fraud can be detected and identified in the financial statements of companies that commit fraud.

This study aims to explore the relationship between fraud triangle theory (FTT) and the accounting fraud phenomenon in all listed companies in China.

The CSMAR database is used as the sample, including 16,063 data of all listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen markets for the 2010–2020 period. The authors also use quantitative methods, such as regression analysis, to investigate the relationship between five variables (cover three elements of FTT) and fraud occurrence.

Results show that leverage and liquidity ratios positively affect fraud detection, whereas return on net equity, audit size and independent director percentage negatively affect fraud detection.

This study enriches theoretical research on the causes of accounting fraud in China and is of great significance to the sound development of China’s capital market.

This study aims to address the relationship between economic complexities (EC) and the green economy (GE) with fraud in the listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange. The authors study whether EC and GE increase the detection of financial statement fraud.

The authors used a multiple regression model based on the panel data method and fixed effect model to test hypotheses. The sample includes 1,351 companies listed on the Iranian stock exchange from 2014 to 2021.

The results show a negative and significant relationship between EC and GE with financial statement fraud.

Since this research is the first to address the mentioned topic in emerging markets, it provides helpful insights for financial statement users, analysts and legal entities. The study fills the literature gap and promotes knowledge regarding its relevant literature.

The aim of this study is to approach the way in which corporate governance influences the occurrence of financial fraud, as expressed by the M-Beneish score. In order to get further into the topic, we have first computed a corporate governance score based on the comply-explain statement and then selected a few elements that are part of the corporate governance reporting: equilibrium of board members (EQUIL), independence of board members (INDEP), selection of the board members (NOM), remuneration policy (REM), audit committee (AUDIT) and the proportion of female directors on boards (GenF). They were tested, one by one, using the financial fraud score to see the way in which they interact.

The study is conducted on a sample of 65 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) for the 2016–2022 period. The data were processed using three-stage general least square [general least squares (GLS), with iteration, igls and option] with a common first-order panel-specific autocorrelation correction, so as to explain how a poor adoption of the corporate governance score and its elements has a negative implication for the M-Beneish score, controlling for the auditor opinion, type of auditing company and if the company is privately owned.

The results support most of our research hypothesis, revealing that a poor adoption of the corporate governance score and its components – AUDIT, EQUIL, INDEP and GenF – negatively influences the M-Beneish score, i.e. a low corporate governance score will lead to an increase in financial fraud. This is an encouraging aspect, for an improved adoption of the corporate governance principles reduces the occurrence of financial fraud.

This is a study that concerns the relationship between corporate governance and financial fraud for the case study for Romania.

The study highlights the importance of adopting the corporate governance code applied to the Romanian business environment. By measuring the presence of financial fraud appearance through the M-Beneish score, we have managed to outline the negative relationship between the two components. Thus, it is an important aspect of which companies should take account, so they will have long-term benefits and ensure the continuity of the business.

The policy implications of this project are for policymakers, so that they will understand how a good corporate governance mechanism will enhance high-performing businesses. Different aspects regarding corporate governance were validated and are in the process of being validated. Managers can extract and try to understand and apply the good characteristics of corporate governance for the well-being of their companies. At a broader level, the macroeconomic environment will increase its own well-being while encouraging market players to enhance qualitative corporate governance reporting. There is no doubt that corporate governance has a positive impact on businesses.

The study highlights the importance of adopting the corporate governance code as applied to the Romanian business environment. By measuring the occurrence of financial fraud using the M-Beneish score, we have managed to outline the negative relationship between the two components. Therefore, this is an important aspect that companies should take into account in order to have long-term benefits and ensure the continuity of their business.

This paper investigates the relationship between risk management practices and potential fraudulent financial reporting in Malaysia by considering recent regulatory reforms of the Malaysian government on risk management practices.

The sample of this study was based on 257 firm-year observations during the 2012–2017 period. This study employed panel-least square regressions with period fixed effects.

This study found a significant association between risk management activities in the disclosure and potential fraudulent financial reporting. Nevertheless, this study found there is insignificant effect of the risk-management committee in reducing potential of fraudulent financial reporting.

This study is a pioneer research that relates firms’ risk management practices with potential fraudulent financial reporting measured by F-score. Thus, this study provides an insight to regulators on the extent of risk-management practices in deterring potential fraudulent financial reporting which can be used as an input for greater enforcement of risk-management regulations.

The study aims to yield evidence on the relation between the quality of governance characteristics and the firms' financial credibility involved in financial violations.

The study uses annual data ranging from 2000 to 2018. The sample consists of 154 nonfinancial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, comprising 77 fraudulent and 77 non-fraudulent companies. To examine the relationship between improvements in the governance structure and financial credibility of the firms, hypotheses are tested using the univariate analysis and multivariate regression model through the ordinary least square method.

The results affirm that fraud firms are possessed with poor governance structure compared to control firms in the pre-fraud year. The findings further imply that an improved governance structure brings foremost performance in stock price. The results of the study divulge that board of directors characteristic i.e. change in outside directors' percentage has a significant positive impact (β = 0.015, p = 0.05) on the financial credibility of the firms. The governance variables in terms of CEO-COB joint position has a significant negative (β = −0.824, p = 0.05) association with the financial credibility, which means that whenever CEO-COB joint position enhances, the financial credibility of the firms decreases. However, governance variables in the context of blockholders percentage has a significant positive (β = 0.13, p = 0.01) impact on financial credibility. The results of the study overall indicate that the governance structure has a significant influence on the financial performance of firms in the stock market.

The study provides an understanding of how fraudulent firms rehabilitate their governance structure and accrue economic benefits by the means of financial credibility after when the fraud is made public. It also adds to the literature in the area of corporate frauds specifically the role of governance structure in the financial performance of fraudulent firms in the stock market; this field is in its initial stage, even in developed countries, while, in developing countries, little work has been done.

This study aims to explore personal and organizational factors in mitigating fraud intention through machiavellian personality, altruistic personality, religiousity, whistleblowing system, and accounting firm size. Companies will suffer greater losses if they cannot prevent fraudulent practices. The fraud hexagon theory is considered effective in detecting the possibility of fraud and the tendency of fraud motivated by personal and organizational factors. Therefore, the researchers examined several factors, including Machiavellian, altruism, religiosity, whistleblowing system and accounting firm size in mitigating fraud intention.

This study used a self-administered survey of accountants in Indonesia. The accountants were selected as the sample because the accounting profession has considerable potential in committing fraud. To avoid common method bias, the authors performed ex ante and ex post on the questionnaire. This research model was tested using structural equation modeling-partial least square.

The results revealed that personal factors in the form of Machiavellian, altruism and religiosity had a direct impact on decreasing fraud intention. In addition, whistleblowing system and accounting firm size were able to promote the effectiveness of fraud mitigation.

This study uses one profession, namely, accountants, so it requires further research to see the similarity of results in other professions.

The results contribute to managerial decision-making. Companies should include personal tests during employee recruitment because personal factors are the key to determining individual fraud behavior.

Combining personal factors and organizational factors can promote the success of the internal control system, so that individuals are encouraged to do ethical things.

This study combines personal and organizational factors in mitigating fraud, so as to know accurately which factors are most capable of mitigating fraud.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current state of forensic accounting education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as well as to identify the desired aims and skills required to practice forensic accounting as a profession. It also seeks to understand the education and skills provided by KSA forensic accounting education programs, the job skills required by professional accountants and the skills required by professional accountants' employers.

The study is exploratory in nature. A convenience base sampling approach was used to select the academicians and practitioners working in KSA. Participants were requested to fill out an electronic questionnaire and rank each statement on a 5-point Likert score. The responses were converted and analyzed using the T-test, to evaluate the inter- and intra-group trends in the data.

The study included 58 responses from practitioners and 30 from academicians. Both groups mentioned that the classroom and the Internet were their primary source of forensic accounting information, especially in professional accounting qualifications. According to the participants, most of the institutions in KSA do not offer forensic accounting courses. Nonetheless, forensic accounting is critical for strengthening the credibility of financial reporting in courtrooms. The study finds subtle inter-group differences regarding the development of an ideal curriculum for forensic accounting, which translates to a bigger difference in curriculum development and practice skills. Both groups were optimistic about the future path of forensic accounting in KSA.

The study reports critical differences between the status of forensic accounting education and the skills required to practice forensic accountancy in KSA.

Accounting information systems are mainly rule-based, and data are usually available and well-structured. However, many accounting systems are yet to catch up with current technological developments. Thus, artificial intelligence (AI) in financial accounting is often applied only in pilot projects. Using AI-based forecasts in accounting enables proactive management and detailed analysis. However, thus far, there is little knowledge about which prediction models have already been evaluated for accounting problems. Given this lack of research, our study aims to summarize existing findings on how AI is used for forecasting purposes in financial accounting. Therefore, the authors aim to provide a comprehensive overview and agenda for future researchers to gain more generalizable knowledge.

The authors identify existing research on AI-based forecasting in financial accounting by conducting a systematic literature review. For this purpose, the authors used Scopus and Web of Science as scientific databases. The data collection resulted in a final sample size of 47 studies. These studies were analyzed regarding their forecasting purpose, sample size, period and applied machine learning algorithms.

The authors identified three application areas and presented details regarding the accuracy and AI methods used. Our findings show that sociotechnical and generalizable knowledge is still missing. Therefore, the authors also develop an open research agenda that future researchers can address to enable the more frequent and efficient use of AI-based forecasts in financial accounting.

Owing to the rapid development of AI algorithms, our results can only provide an overview of the current state of research. Therefore, it is likely that new AI algorithms will be applied, which have not yet been covered in existing research. However, interested researchers can use our findings and future research agenda to develop this field further.

Given the high relevance of AI in financial accounting, our results have several implications and potential benefits for practitioners. First, the authors provide an overview of AI algorithms used in different accounting use cases. Based on this overview, companies can evaluate the AI algorithms that are most suitable for their practical needs. Second, practitioners can use our results as a benchmark of what prediction accuracy is achievable and should strive for. Finally, our study identified several blind spots in the research, such as ensuring employee acceptance of machine learning algorithms in companies. However, companies should consider this to implement AI in financial accounting successfully.

To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet been conducted that provided a comprehensive overview of AI-based forecasting in financial accounting. Given the high potential of AI in accounting, the authors aimed to bridge this research gap. Moreover, our cross-application view provides general insights into the superiority of specific algorithms.

This study aims to investigate the perceived willingness to adopt and use Forensic Accounting and Investigation Standards (FAIS) in Forensic Accounting and Investigation (FAI) assignments. The study also analyses the usefulness of FAIS in achieving the principle of natural justice (PNJ) concerning fairness.

The respondents comprised 118 accounting professionals whose online survey responses were analyzed descriptively. This study also uses a 2 × 2 contingency analysis representing two levels of usefulness and fairness.

The results revealed that FAIS 410 received the highest mean rating while FAIS 240 received the lowest mean rating in willingness to adopt and use FAIS, and most of the standards were related to the PNJ concerning fairness. The study shows the accounting professionals’ readiness to adapt and flourish with the help of these Standards in FAI assignments.

The findings of this study will increase practitioners’ awareness of the usefulness and fairness of FAIS, which will enhance their understanding of the significance of implementing these newly developed standards to harmonize the investigative process in forensic audits. Additionally, the findings may encourage regulators, researchers, accounting bodies and their members to adopt and conduct further FAIS studies that can advance financial crime prevention, detection and investigation knowledge.

This paper substantially contributes to the literature as it is the first to examine the usefulness and fairness of “Forensic Accounting and Investigation Standards” in the context of forensic audits and investigations, which has not been previously explored.