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 Secure Transaction CPE Credits
5 Credits: Accounting
Course Level
Overview
Format
Self-Study
Course Description
Fundamentals of Earnings Management provides a comprehensive overview of earnings management, explaining why managers adjust reported results and how a variety of issues influence financial reporting outcomes. It examines the regulatory environment, and the roles of auditors, governance, and internal controls in constraining aggressive reporting practices, while highlighting the analytical techniques used by analysts to detect earnings management. The course concludes with an in-depth discussion of ethical considerations and the need for professional judgment when preparing financial statements.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the nature of earnings management.
- Identify the accounting frameworks that define how earnings should be recognized, and how they differ.
- Specify the control requirements and responsibilities imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
- Identify the government regulatory authorities that enforce compliance with accounting standards.
- Recall how reserves can be used to manage earnings.
- Specify the basis upon which reserve amounts are justified.
- Describe the types of management actions that are considered to be real activities manipulation.
- Specify the impact of changes in production levels on reported profits.
- Specify the impact of changes in discretionary expenses on reported profits.
- Recall how quantitative detection models function, and how they are used.
- Recall the conditions that can cause a smooth, straight-line trend in reported earnings.
- Specify the mindset that external auditors are expected to maintain during an audit.
- Identify the audit areas that auditors focus on for possible earnings management.
- Recall the components of the fraud triangle.
- Recall the components of the COSO internal control framework.
- Specify the types of ethical frameworks that an accountant may use.
- Identify the likely outcomes if a company is caught using aggressive earnings manipulation.
Course Specifics
SS126469994
March 2, 2026
There are no prerequisites.
None
109
Compliance Information
CMA Notice: Western CPE makes every attempt to maintain our CMA CPE library, to ensure a course meets your continuing education requirements please visit Insitute of Management Accountants (IMA)
CFP Notice: Not all courses that qualify for CFP® credit are registered by Western CPE. If a course does not have a CFP registration number in the compliance section, the continuing education will need to be individually reported with the CFP Board. For more information on the reporting process, required documentation, processing fee, etc., contact the CFP Board. CFP Professionals must take each course in it’s entirety, the CFP Board DOES NOT accept partial credits for courses.
Meet The Experts
Steven M. Bragg, CPA, is a full-time book and course author who has written more than 300 business books and courses. He provides Western CPE with self-study courses in the areas of accounting and finance, with an emphasis on the practical application of accounting standards and management techniques. A sampling of his courses include the The New Controller Guidebook, The GAAP Guidebook, Accountants’ Guidebook, and Closing the Books: An Accountant’s Guide. He also manages the Accounting Best Practices podcast. Steven has been the CFO or controller of both public and private companies and has been a consulting manager with Ernst & Young and …
QAS Self-Study
