| Course | AC314 Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | Fraud scenario analysis |
| Length | About 600 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for AC314 Unit 7
214 Credits Under $250: A Unit 7 Fraud Scenario Analysis of a Nursery Clerk's Lapping Scheme
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
AC314: Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management
Unit 7 Fraud Scenario Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Stillbrook Nursery, its clerk and every figure are composite; the book, report and article cited are real.
Case Summary
Landscapers who pick up plants often pay at the will-call counter by cash or check. The clerk who prepared the counter's daily deposit also posted customer receipts and could issue credits up to $250 without approval. Over nineteen months she kept cash paid by 31 landscaping accounts, applied later payments from other customers to the oldest balances so nothing looked past due, and cleared what lapping could no longer cover with credits described as dead plants returned. A landscaper who questioned a statement showing a credit he had never requested set off the investigation.
Scheme Timeline
1. Months 1 to 4: small amounts of cash kept, covered by lapping alone.
2. Months 5 to 12: amounts grew; the first dead-plant credits appeared, mostly in spring when such credits are common.
3. Months 13 to 19: credits used monthly; 214 in all, averaging $196 and totaling $41,980.
4. At discovery: $41,420 was still hidden in misapplied receipts across 31 accounts.
Pressure
The investigation found that the clerk had fallen behind on a mortgage after her spouse lost work. Pressure of this kind, a private financial problem the person feels unable to share, is the first element of the triangle Cressey drew from his interviews with embezzlers (Cressey, 1953).
Opportunity
She held three duties that should be separate: handling cash, posting receipts and issuing credits. No one compared deposits with the receipts register, statements were mailed by the clerk herself, and a $250 credit limit with no report of credit volume let small credits pass unseen.
Of the three legs, only opportunity was within Stillbrook's control; the nursery could not have known about the mortgage or changed how she justified the theft to herself, but it could have kept the same person from touching cash, the receivables ledger and the credit screen.
Rationalization
In interviews she said she always meant to repay the money and that the nursery's owners would never miss it during a strong season. Researchers tracing the theory since Cressey point out that an outsider rarely sees a rationalization until after the fact, and later models add capability, the skill to carry out and conceal a scheme, which she plainly had (Dorminey et al., 2012).
Red Flags That Were Missed
1. Credits clustered just under $250. Visible in any credit report sorted by amount.
2. Dead-plant credits in months when few plants are sold.
3. The clerk never took a full week of vacation.
4. Receivables aging stayed unusually clean while landscaping sales grew.
5. Customer complaints about statements were routed to the clerk.
Control Response
1. Separate cash handling from posting; if staffing does not allow it, have an owner compare each day's deposit with the receipts register.
2. Mail statements from someone outside receivables, and route statement questions to the controller.
3. Report credits weekly by clerk and amount, with any cluster near the limit reviewed.
4. Require each employee with access to cash to take a consecutive week of leave.
Across the 1,921 cases in the ACFE's 2024 report, the typical scheme ran a year before anyone found it, and tips uncovered more schemes than any control did (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2024). Stillbrook's case fits that pattern: a customer's question, not a control, ended it.
References
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (2024). Occupational fraud 2024: A report to the nations. ACFE.
Cressey, D. R. (1953). Other people's money: A study in the social psychology of embezzlement. Free Press.
Dorminey, J., Fleming, A. S., Kranacher, M.-J., & Riley, R. A. (2012). The evolution of fraud theory. Issues in Accounting Education, 27(2), 555-579. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-50131
What the AC314 Unit 7 assignment asks for
The seventh AC314 unit gives a fraud case and asks for analysis through the fraud triangle. Start with a factual summary: who, what, how long, how much and how it was found. Lay out the scheme's progress in a short timeline. Then take each leg in turn, pressure, opportunity and rationalization, using evidence from the case rather than speculation. Explain the concealment method, such as lapping or false credits, so a reader understands how the theft stayed hidden. List the red flags that could have been seen and where. Decide which leg the organization could have influenced, and design a control response aimed there. Place the case in context with published fraud statistics. Avoid inventing motives the case does not state. Cite Cressey, the ACFE report and fraud theory research in APA 7.
Inside the AC314 Unit 7 example
The sample's summary explains the will-call counter, the clerk's three duties and how a landscaper's question about a strange credit started the investigation. A four-step timeline shows the scheme growing from lapping alone to monthly credits averaging $196, with $41,420 still hidden at discovery. The pressure section cites Cressey on unshareable financial problems. The opportunity section names the three combined duties and the unmonitored credit limit, and the highlighted sentence explains why opportunity was the only controllable leg. The rationalization section cites Dorminey and colleagues on capability. Five red flags follow, from credits clustered under $250 to complaints routed to the clerk. Four controls make up the response. The closing paragraph notes, with the ACFE's 2024 report, that a tip rather than a control ended the scheme.
Where the points sit in the AC314 Unit 7 rubric
AC314 fraud analyses are graded on accurate use of the triangle with evidence from the case for each leg. A clear explanation of the concealment method shows understanding of how frauds stay hidden. The timeline and amounts must be consistent with the case. Red flags should be specific and placed where they could have been seen. The key analytical point is which leg the organization can influence, with a reasoned answer. Controls aimed at that leg, practical for the organization's size, earn design credit. Context from fraud research or statistics shows breadth. Speculating about motives not in the case costs credit. A logical sequence, from facts to legs to response, makes the work easy to follow. Purdue Global instructors in this course expect Cressey, the ACFE report and fraud theory research cited in APA 7.
Common AC314 Unit 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Fraud scenario analyses often retell the case without applying the triangle, or apply it with guesses about the employee's character. Students describe lapping vaguely, so it is unclear how the theft stayed hidden. Red flags are listed in general terms, such as lifestyle changes, rather than from the case's own facts. Controls are proposed for all three legs equally, including pressure, which an employer cannot reasonably control. The recommended controls ignore staff size. Statistics are quoted without a source. The detection method is left out. If your instructor assigned a published case or news report, our writers can analyze it leg by leg and design a response that fits that organization.
Get an AC314 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Attach the case assigned for Unit 7, whether a textbook scenario or a news account, plus the rubric. The three legs are argued from its evidence, red flags dated and controls aimed where they can work, and the analysis reaches you within 24-48h. A first custom sample is free of charge. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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AC314 Unit 7 questions, answered
Why focus the controls on opportunity?
Because opportunity is the leg an organization designs. Pressure comes from an employee's private life and rationalization from their own reasoning, and neither can be controlled directly without intruding where an employer should not. The AC314 sample still reaches both through the control environment, with a hotline and visible consequences, but it spends most of the response on duties, approvals and absences the nursery could change.
What does lapping mean?
Lapping hides a stolen customer payment by applying the next customer's payment to the first account, then a third payment to the second, and so on. Each account looks current for a while, but the gap never closes and has to keep moving. In the sample, false dead-plant credits eventually cleared the oldest lapped balances, which is why the credit memo register shows the scheme most clearly.
Can the analysis use a case my instructor assigned?
Yes, and most AC314 sections assign one, often a published case or a news account. Send it with the prompt and rubric. The analysis is rebuilt on those facts, each leg tied to evidence in the case, and it avoids inventing motives the source never states, since graders mark speculation down wherever they find it.
Where can I find a free AC314 Unit 7 sample paper?
This page holds a complete AC314 Unit 7 fraud scenario analysis of a composite nursery clerk's lapping and credit scheme, with a timeline, the three legs, red flags, a control response and APA 7 references.
How did the credit memos hide the theft in AC314 Unit 7?
When lapping could no longer cover the missing cash, the clerk issued 214 credits for dead plants, each under the $250 limit that needed approval, which wrote down the balances she had robbed.