Forensic Accountant

Forensic Accountant

Introduction

According to the accounting and financial reporting, Forensic Accounting is a complex financial and economic study of disputes in the economic activities of the company. Forensic accounting is a science that can collect and provide accounting, financial, legal, and administrative support. Forensic accounting arises with attempts to detect and correct fraud in the financial statements (Shields, 2010). These detections and correction are practiced by Forensic Accountant. In addition Forensic accounting is a specialized discipline that requires expert knowledge in theories accounting, audit, and criminal investigation techniques. It is an important branch of accounting research, used in the reconstruction of financial facts, fraud investigations, economic damages calculations and financial projections yields and Forensic accountants are one of those experts. Thus in this paper I am going to discuss various skills, role, and legal responsibility of Forensic Accountants along with various legal issues involving Forensic Accountant.

Forensic Accountant Skills

Forensic accountants are also called as forensic investigators, or auditors, they frequently have to provide expert evidence ay eventual trail. The forensic accountant seeks to analyze information outside of the accounting records and determine manipulation of financial statements. They work on wide range of cases ranging from embezzlement to divorce to homicide. The aims and objectives of judicial accounting expertise is the study of the current financial situation of the company, setting error or deliberate fraud in the management of the accounting records, the establishment of the correctness and legality of financial transactions, as well as other preventive functions that address a variety of offenses in the financial and business activities of the company. Along with degree in accountant, and more degrees in fields like criminal justice and enforcement, they require some skills to perform them activities so following are some main activities required by Forensic Accountants are (Hearn, 2010):

They should have the ability to critical think and ability to link insights from various disciplines, knowledge, and data in order to provide effective and useful information for decision making and communicating goals, vision, culture, and strategy of the company.

They should be able to identify strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats, related to specific activity and articulate principles strategically.

The forensic accountant must have good communication skills and the ability to listen with patience. They should be updated on recent developments in the field in order to be effective.

As the world is changing rapidly and everything is going digital, forensic accountants should have extensive computer skills having certification in specific programs.

They should be able to transfer knowledge between situations. In they should be able to prepare and analyze strategic information like competitor section, customer satisfaction, market share, and product innovation.

They have discretion, perseverance, capacity curiosity, organization, professional judgment trust, and creativity. They should be based on certain legal proceedings in the law.

Forensic Accountant in Courtroom Environment

Initially the forensic accountant calculates damage and helps resolve disputes before they reach the courtroom. If the dispute reaches the courtroom, the forensic accountant acts as an expert witness and provides information in front of the jury, prosecutor, judge, and ...