Each case is a fictional company with a fraud buried in its books. You don't get the files up front. You ask for them, the way a real investigator does, and every request costs hours from a fixed budget.
Meet the company, the people involved, and the tip that started the engagement. The briefing tells you who you already know about. Everyone else you'll have to find.
Type what you want, the way you'd write to the client. Before anything is sent, Tickmarks shows you how it read your request so you can fix it.
“March invoices from Northgate Supply”
Records you've earned land in your evidence locker as PDFs and spreadsheets. Download them and work them in Excel and your PDF reader: tick, foot, trace, and vouch until something doesn't tie. New names in the documents become parties you can ask about.
A ladder of questions walks you from “what happened” to “how much” and “who.” Each one unlocks when you've answered the one before it.
Your instructor sets an hours budget for each case. Every request is charged against it, and the hours left are always shown at the top of your evidence locker.
| What happens | Hours |
|---|---|
| Records are produced | 3.00 |
| Pushed back, or nothing produced | 1.00 |
A request is pushed back when it's too broad, names a party you haven't found yet, or needs records you haven't produced. When the budget runs out, no more requests are accepted. You can still answer questions with the evidence you already have.
Shotgun requests are expensive. A specific request that names a document type, a party, and a period usually gets you what you need on the first try.
Start with the people in the briefing. When a produced document mentions someone new, they're added to your known parties and you can request records about them. Naming someone you haven't uncovered yet gets pushed back.
Some records come from third parties, like a bank. They won't hand those over on a hunch. Produce the internal records that justify the request first; the pushback message tells you what's still missing.
$1,234.56, 1234.56 and (1,234.56) for a negative all work, within a small tolerance.| Question value | 10 |
| One hint used | (2) |
| One wrong answer | (3) |
| Points awarded | 5 |
You get a join code. Students enter it with their name and school email, and sign in with a one-time emailed link. No passwords.
Pick a published case, set the hours budget, and add an optional due date.
See each student's status, score, hours, requests and answers. Open any student's trail to read every request they made, what was produced, and when.
The answer key and teaching notes are one click away. Export results, requests and answers as CSV.
New to running a class? Read the instructor guide.
To set up an instructor account, email admin@playtickmarks.com.
Cases come in four tiers: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Expert What the tiers and case types cover