Financial Statement Discussion

This assignment contains two discussions. Please create a discussion post with a minimum of 500 words for each discussion listed. Integrate at least two scholarly sources published no more than 5 years ago.

1. Reflect on the relationship between the accounting cycle and the preparation of financial statements. How does each step contribute to the final reports? Which step is the most challenging to you and why?

Discuss a recent (past 20 years) forensic accounting scandal involving the conviction of fraud/money laundering/“cooking the books” schemes. Briefly summarize the background information, fraud scheme (s), method of detection, related accounting issues, sentencing, lessons learned and cited references. Your research sources may include a TV series (e.g. American Greed, Person of Interest, CSI…), movies (e.g. The Informant, The Accountant, The Wizard of Lies, Bernie Madoff, The Smartest Guys in the Room, Catch me if you can, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Erin Brockovich) or news publications (e.g. WSJ).