Forensic accounting is a field of the accounting industry that deals with white collar crime. Since it deals with investigating cases in which there is a suspicion that the law has been broken in some way, such as in embezzlement, fraud or money laundering, this type of accountant has to conduct the investigation and prepare the reports according to the standards of the court. After the investigation is complete. You may have to testify to your findings in court and submit your reports as evidence.
The area of forensic accounting is the fastest growing area of this industry. There are two main areas involved in this type of work. The first is called litigation support and involves the factual presentation of the issues that led to suspicion of wrongdoing. This is the work done before the case reaches the courtroom. The other aspect of this accounting work is the actual investigation work. In this work, the accountant will look at all the financial records, reports and transactions over a specified period of time to determine if a criminal offence has taken place. This type of work can also take place in civil cases, such as divorce. In this type of case, the accountant will search for hidden assets that one of the partners has not declared in the divorce proceedings.
The main duty of a forensic accountant is to look at the numbers and carefully scrutinize the calculations and reports. This means that in this position you must have an exceptional ability of paying attention to even the tiniest detail. This forensic accounting is like detective work in which you are looking for mistakes in another’s work to determine if the mistakes are accidental or deliberate.
In order to become a forensic accountant, you must hold an undergraduate degree in accounting, business or a related field. You must have experience working as an accountant and be a certified public accountant. Along with understanding and practicing the ethics standards of the public accounting profession, the ethics of forensic accounting go much farther in demanding bias free reporting of the findings of the investigations. In this position, you would act in a manner similar to that of a private detective, but with the CPA designation, many states provide an exemption to accountants and do not require them to hold a private investigator’s license.
In addition to CPA certification, when you want to work in forensic accounting, you also need to hold a CFE certificate as a Certified Fraud Examiner or a CFA certificate as a Certified Forensic Accountant. The starting salary for this work is about average, but as you home your skills and become known for your investigative skills it is likely that you will advance in your career to a six-figure salary. The job will take you wherever there is a need for your services. Your employer will likely be the police or the FBI or a company that needs some investigative work done before laying charges against an employee.
