CPP Payroll Accounting & Reporting Flashcards
6 cards from real CPP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 CPP Payroll Accounting & Reporting flashcards as text
Segregation of duties in payroll processing means:
Answer: Having different individuals handle payroll preparation, approval, and disbursement
Segregating duties ensures no single person controls all phases of payroll, reducing the risk of undetected fraud or error.
A 'ghost employee' in payroll fraud refers to:
Answer: A fictitious person added to payroll to divert funds to the fraudster
A ghost employee is a fictitious person placed on the payroll whose paychecks are fraudulently diverted by the perpetrator.
Which control best detects payroll overpayments or unauthorized pay increases?
Answer: Regularly comparing actual payroll costs to budgeted amounts and investigating variances
Budget-to-actual variance analysis is a detective control that flags unusual overpayments or unauthorized compensation changes.
The purpose of a payroll suspense account is to:
Answer: Temporarily hold unresolved payroll discrepancies pending correction and proper coding
A suspense account temporarily holds items that cannot be immediately coded correctly, allowing time for research and correction.
During a payroll audit, which document best verifies that pay rates are properly authorized?
Answer: Personnel/HR records documenting management-approved pay rates
Personnel records with signed management authorization are the authoritative source auditors use to verify that pay rates are approved and accurate.
Year-end payroll reconciliation should confirm that:
Answer: Total W-2 Box 1 wages equal annual gross wages adjusted for pre-tax deductions and non-taxable benefits
Year-end reconciliation ensures W-2 Box 1 taxable wages correctly reflect gross wages minus all pre-tax deductions and excludable benefits.