Posted by Majd Abusadah.
Even though that companies usually have their own accountants who observe accounting transactions, there are still chances for fraud, and this can cause and increasing need for forensic accountants. As a result, universities started to provide courses in forensic accounting for people who are interested in a job as a forensic accountant, such as Florida National University (FNU).
While traditional accounting discusses the financial information and how to provide this information for different users, such as investors and mangers, forensic accounting is used to investigate and analyze financial information for determining if there are any illegal transactions that may have occurred. The forensic accountant’s role is to search and investigate an extensive domain of various crimes. For example, the crimes could involve company health care fraud, money laundering, and contract disagreements. Also, the forensic accountant might be required to be experts witnesses during a trial. Forensic accountants might use their skills in personal matters, such as: dissolution of a marriage where they have to study the financial positions for both parties and their spending for better settlement.
The discipline is starting to notice many needs that go beyond accounting and finances. According to FNU, “the need for skill sets more accustomed with the legal process and computer technology are highly sought after and play a crucial role in determining the outcome of courtroom events.” Forensic accounting affected by few factors such as appearing of a new generation of business professionals and hopeful entrepreneurs. There are around 500,000 new businesses each year and some of them use technology for their transactions. In fact, this extended the forensic accountant’s role to the digital world. Even though technology has a strong protection system, there is still a chance of risk, so it is important for forensic accountant to update their skills in this area.
Having traditional accountants is not enough for companies who want to protect their financial health. This is because their role does not include anything about how to investigate the financial information, hence, the need for forensic accountants.
Majd is a graduate accounting student with a concentration in forensic accounting at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University.
Reference:
(2015, May 05). The Growing Importance of Forensic Accounting. Retrieved from http://www.fnu.edu/growing-importance-forensic-accounting/