Many CPAs and accounting professionals have discovered a lucrative business by specializing in fraud, and are extremely familiar with this tremendous drain on resoruces, but did you know that fraud costs North American companies more than $400 billion annually?

And that's just the beginning. Putting the monetary loss aside, fraud takes its toll on other aspects of company operations, like employee morale and long-term growth. And, most cases of fraud never make the headlines because companies prefer to keep the news to themselves.

In many scenarios, fraud examiners say that 20 percent of employees are honest, 20 percent are dishonest, and the 60 percent majority are honest depending on the situation.

With numbers like this, CPAs should make themselves aware of fraud-related issues so they can provide consulting services to clients and customers, or find ways to outsource this business.