5 comments about Fraud Examination (with ACL CD-ROM).

1. As soon as I started reading this book, I had no problems keeping up with the assigned readings in my class. The examples of what people will do to decieve others and themselves are gut wrenching, but give a true picture of what people do. This book has made me consider specializing in fraud.



2. This book is a very thorough and well-written introduction to the field of fraud examination. Authors' lucid and easy-to-read style with plenty of fraud story examples is helpful to digest complex concepts such as financial statement frauds and e-commerce frauds. Chapter sizes are carefully kept small. Quizzes and case studies are also well-thought out.
   
   Some reviews on Amazon don't do this book a justice. Overall a comprehensive text book in the area of Fraud examination. For curious and interested in this field, I also recommend Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports, Second Edition.



3. The book is relatively well written with easily understood concepts. The massive amount of examples are tremendously helpful in bridging the gap between theoretical academics and real life fraud as well as making the reader think about fraud in different ways. For example, one case is about a normal inventory audit, except that the company was trying to pull a fast one by overstating their inventory. What the auditors did was to check the weight and size of the inventory that was on the books and compare it to the warehouse size and capacity of their forklifts. The two did not match as the warehouse was too small to fit all of the inventory and the weights of the products were far in excess of what a forklift could lift.
   
   The main issue and this was already brought up was redundancy. The book tends to do through out the book. I haven't quite figured it out if its meant to reinforce specific concepts or if their editor was just incompetent.
   
   The book is still useful for those who haven't taken audit and useful for those who have as it either lays some knowledge for audit courses or reinforces audit knowledge.



4. State of the Art in fraud investigation books. Full concepts, tables and figures that shows the whole picture of the theme. The ACL Desktop Education Edition CD-ROM included and the reference to Picalo's website makes the perfect match in theory and practice for everyone. Check the Cengage resources site for more usefull stuff.



5. very good price for a very good book. excellent new condition, very easy to read and understand.

1 comments about Principles of Fraud Examination.

1. This book is excellent and very readable. It is the textbook version of Corporate Fraud Handbook: Prevention and Detection by the same author which costs less. So unless you are using this in class or teach from it get the Corporate Fraud Handbook...it costs less. Either way you won't be sorry for having the book. It is worth it.

No comments about Estimated Useful Lives of Depreciable Hospital Assets Revised 2008 Edition (Estimated Useful Lives of Depreciable Hospital Assets).

No comments about MP Auditing and Assurance Services with ACL SW CD.

No comments about Auditing: A Business Risk Approach (with CD-ROM).

1 comments about Principles of Auditing and Other Assurance Services w/ACL CD.

1. This is a good book for auditing student. I cann't think of another reason anyone would want to buy the book exept for a class however.

No comments about Think and Grow Rich, Original 1937 Classic Edition.

2 comments about IT Auditing: Using Controls to Protect Information Assets.

1. I have no experience with auditing in the formal sense described by IT Auditing. I am familiar with the technical aspects of host and network security, but I wanted to know more about the goals and views of those who audit enterprises from a security standpoint. IT Auditing succeeds when it discusses the profession of auditing but I found some of the technical details lacking. Therefore, I recommend focusing on chapters 1-3 and 12-15, while using the technical chapters as indicators for outside research.
   
   Chapter 1 makes clear that IT Auditing is written for internal audit teams. The author argues that involvement is better than "independence," since adhering to the later business approach is a recipe for outsourcing the audit function. I liked the beginning and end of IT Auditing because they emphasized how internal audit teams should work with business IT functions. These chapters answered questions on whether or not audit should review and comment upon projects before completion (yes) and related "soft" topics.
   
   The middle of IT Auditing concentrates on how to audit data centers, infrastructure, operating systems, Web servers, databases, applications, and wireless/mobile devices. I found these chapters less appealing. When I read "it's much more common to find SNMP Version 2 in most corporate environment" (sic, p 121) or see mention of "Universal Data Ports (UDPs)" (sic, p 172) I question the validity of the technical recommendations. Other examples include equating NAT with proxies (p 117) and the statement that "network vulnerability scanning... is probably the most important type of security discovery or monitoring in most environments" I begin to understand the horror stories I hear from some who are audited.
   
   When it came to understanding the audit mindset, I think IT Auditing really helped me. It seems auditors are far more likely to be interested in reviewing paperwork than really assessing effectiveness of security controls. Repeatedly I read statements like "evaluate the effectiveness of the security personnel function" by looking at documentation. In a few areas auditors seem to understand the value of real tests, e.g., trying to restore a backup rather than reviewing logs saying backups were completed. This focus on validating paperwork over operational activity is the single biggest problem with audits. It's clear a "system" could pass all its audit checks with flying colors while still being completely compromised. (Yes, p 201-2 mentions Chkrootkit, but that program is only effective in limited scenarios.) Audit is configuration and paperwork validation, not system integrity assessment.
   
   I recommend reading IT Auditing if you want to get a better idea of how your auditors think and what they want to inspect. If you're an auditor who wants authoritative technical guidance you will probably learn more from dedicated system and network hardening books designed for administrators. IT Auditing's checklists can at least put you in the ballpark, however.



2. This is by far the most useful book I've seen covering the subject matter of IT Audits in more than 20 years of IT Auditing. I noticed that ISACA picked up this book as part of their bookstore. The narrative is easy to read throughout the book and the book is laid out and formatted thoughtfully.
   
   I now manage the IT Audit function for a large US-based bank and found the first three chapters (Building an Effective IT Audit Function; The Audit Process; and Auditing Entity Level Controls) particularly well done for understanding how to build the IT Audit team into your environment technically and politically.
   
   The next section of the book, Chapters 4-12 (Data Centers/DR; Switches, Routers, Firewalls; Windows; UNIX and Linux; Web Servers; Databases; Applications; WLAN/Mobile; Company Projects) is solid, very well done, and consistent with other checklists we've used. The checklists are written from an auditor's perspective and contain an excellent level of detail covering what you should do, why, and how. Any more detail and a real world audit would never get completed before it was time to move on to the next audit. IT Audits provided my team members excellent guidance on two recent audits. My team liked the book's layout and level of detail. It's written at an appropriate and realistic level that an auditor can work his or her way through a checklist without getting overwhelmed.
   
   Finally, the last section of the book (Frameworks and Standards; Regulations; and Risk Management) provides a good overview of the several standards and regulations we deal with every day. The chapter on Risk Management is one of the best reviews on that topic in a while.
   
   Overall I think this is an exceptional book and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to someone in the IT Audit field.

5 comments about Auditing and Assurance Services: An Intergrated Approach and ACL Software (12th Edition).

1. I am an accounting major in college and this textbook was required for the auditing course I am taking. The book is well written and easy to understand. Excellent book for the sturdy of the auditing and assurance process.



2. I received this product quickly, and it was everything that it was supposed to be.



3. It's an auditing book, what can I say? On the service, excellent. The book arrived on time and in the condition expected. Thanks!



4. The book didn't arrive on time and after I canceled, they still sent the book. I had to call for a shipping label and sent it back and wait for a refund. They used an independent shipping company instead of UPS, FedEx or DHL.



5. I am an accounting major in college and this textbook was required for the auditing course I am taking. The book is very well written and easy to understand. An Excellent book for the study of the auditing and assurance process. This book is a great source especially for the preparation for the C.P.A. exams, in respect to review materials. I highly recommend this book because it has the latest updates regarding Sarbanes-Oxley and PCAOB and SAS.

4 comments about Wiley CPA Exam Review 2008: Auditing and Attestation (Wiley Cpa Examination Review Auditing).

1. I used Wiley as a supplement with another online program. I decided to buy it and use it for final review a few weeks before my exam just to make sure I had everything covered. Turns out I hadn't been adequately prepared with the online program alone.
   
   Whether or not this book can stand on its own for your CPA review prep depends on your circumstances. I earned my accounting degree over 10 years ago, so this book served me well in my final review prep; but I don't think I could have passed with this book alone.
   
   However, if you're fresh out of college, this book might be all you need.
   
   In the end, I passed with help from this book. That's good enough for 5 stars.



2. The Wiley CPA exam prep books are the best for the money. The AUD book, like the others, is comprehensive and thorough, even if not summarized like Becker or Kaplan. Actually, Wiley covers 100% of the exam material, whereas the others focus on "key" test areas and "value-added" mnemonics and summaries. But, Wiley is the most comprehensive and best-priced, and coupled with the prep software, it's a great package.



3. Having never taken an auditing class in college, I found this book to be extremely helpful.



4. Great value for the price. There were a few missprints, but overall I was very pleased with the presentation of information.