Congratulations! You have just been hired as the lead internal auditor for Smith Corporation and are assigned to a team working on an ongoing project to determine potential fraud within the firm. The project began with a time trend analysis of the purchase prices of all items in the company. The project was started last year, but due to budget issues, it was delayed until this year. Most of the data and web mining are complete, but the team is having problems understanding how to continue the process.

• Based on this situation, you will need to explain the steps involved in time trend analysis, including data preparation and evaluation. Further, discuss the types of fraud which can be identified with time trend analysis and big data.
• How is it applied to fraud situations, and who benefits from such an assessment? Explain.
• What is your understanding of big data in terms of forensic accounting and the profession as a whole?