...1 Running Head: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING IN PRACTICE Forensic Accounting in Practice Marc Fantone Strayer University Dr. Etta Steed November 17, 2013 Accounting, historically, has been a profession of number tracking, ledger updating and balance sheet reviewing; however, more recently, the need for a skeptical view of accounting business records has developed. In recent years, scandals such as Enron and Bernie Madoff have called for immediate action and needs of forensic accountants with a change in oversight to investigation. According to Zare, “Forensic accounting is unique in that it combines accounting with investigation. These bloodhounds as opposed to the watchdogs that are auditors attempt to sniff out fraudulent transactions from the financial records of banks and companies.” (Zare, 2013) By definition, forensic can be defined as “relating to, used in, or suitable to a court of law.” (Merriam-Webster, 2013) How can this increased level of accounting review and accuracy develop into a role that supports litigation and laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? The level of forensic accounting has led to the development and thought processes of what it actually means to be a forensic accountant. Five (5) Skills of a Forensic Accountant In addition to the basic functionality of a standard accountant, there are additional skills that would be needed for forensic accounting. The skills needed for forensic accounting are associated with practices of the occupation...
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...Forensic Accounting in Practice Twana Bethea BUS 508 May 21, 2013 Dr. Phyllis Praise Abstract Forensic Accounting is the application of the skills and training of a chartered accountant to disputes and investigations. Fraud is usually hidden in the accounting systems of organizations and that’s where forensic accountants play a critical role. Forensic accountants are contacted by companies when they need to figure out where a fraud was committed in their company. The accountants interview witnesses, analyze evidence such as email traffic between all parties involved. They will also freeze bank accounts if needed. They are hired to find out what happen and who was involved. If the case goes to trial they can be called to testify. The key skill of the forensic accountant is communicating complex financial transaction or data in a concise manner using images, graphs and languages that can be easily understood by non-accountants, the judiciary, and juries. With the growing complexity of business related investigations, Forensic Accounting professionals are increasing and the need is as well for investigations of business and financial issues. Forensic Accounting Practices Forensic Accounting has been in exist for many years, today there have been an increase in the need for this type of profession. Forensic accounting is the practice of integration of accounting, auditing and investigative skills. The accountings provide a court with an accounting analysis on the basis...
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...Forensic Accounting Practice Bradford Clark Professor Dr. Hanners Lithonia Campus BUS 508 – Contemporary Business March 1, 2012 Strayer University Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. A forensic accountant is a specialist in accounting and financial systems that is trained to detect white collar fraud. Forensic Accounting is a fast growing field in the in the field of accounting. Although it has been around for a long time, it has become increasingly popular in the past few years as there have been a number of corporate scandals, stricter reporting, and internal control regulations involving public awareness and importance in the business world. With the state of the world’s economy forensic accountants are in high demand. Forensic accountants should at least possess a Bachelor degree in accounting. They should also be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and may possess other certifications such as Certified Forensic Accountant (CrFA) and Certified Forensic Accounting Professional (CFAP). The skills needed to become a forensic accountant include strategic critical thinking, problem solving/decision making, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and professional and ethical behavior. Strategic critical thinking is the ability to link data, knowledge...
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...Introduction Forensic accounting has been around for many years. With the spotlight on accounting due to high profile scandals such as the Enron debacle, the market for forensic accountants has increased. The increase in white collar crimes due to the economic downturn also has forensic accounting in high demand. These accountants assist in investigating financial, auditing and business related issues and require specialized training. Forensic accountants are retained by lawyers, police forces, insurance companies, banks, and the business community. Government agencies employ forensic accountants as well. Accounting positions at the FBI date back to the 1970s and around 15 percent of today’s agents qualify as special agent accountants. These agents investigate terrorists, spies, and criminals of all kinds who are involved in financial wrongdoing (FBI.gov, 2012). Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Forensic accounting is a specialty field within the broader area of accounting. These accountants are more than just number crunchers. The realm of forensic accounting requires a certain type of person who possesses specific skills and traits. Besides the core knowledge and skills of any Certified Public Accountant (CPA), they must know how to use a variety of computer...
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...Forensic Accounting in Practice Brittany Baskin Dr. John Theodore Contemporary Business November 18, 2012 When you think of the term forensics, what comes to mind? For younger readers CSI probably rings a bell, while the elder crowd would probably think of Quincy. Both TV shows glorified the acts of forensics in a medical sense. But a lesser-known form of forensics has been growing in use around the world. In light of recent accounting scandals throughout the world, investors and regulators have searched for various different methods to improve the safety of investors through more diligent accounting reporting practices. Until recently, detecting fraud was thought to be a part of the responsibility of the accountant. Fraud was something the internal or external auditors were expected to guard against by their periodic audits. We now know that auditors can only check for compliance of a company’s books to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) and to company policy; therefore, a new category of accounting had to be established, one which revealed the fraud for companies with suspected fraudulent transactions. This new area of accounting is known as forensic accounting. To fully understand the definition of forensic accounting, we can use parts of the definition of forensic medicine and accounting, both taken from Webster’s Dictionary, to produce a clear definition. Forensic medicine is a “science that deals with the relation and application...
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...Forensic Accounting 1 Assignment 3: Forensic Accounting in Practice BUS 508 Professor: Edwin Quinn Jr. Carmesha Eldridge May 19, 2013 Forensic Accounting 2 1. Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. One of the most essential skills is being analytical. Forensic accountants must make sure that they are in a position to uncover financial deceptions by critically analyzing them with an understanding of fraud schemes. A forensic accountant is deductive analysis or the ability to take a shot at the financial contradictions that are not a normal pattern of the company to uncover potential financial fraud. Being analytical is essential to remaining an effective forensic accountant. They need to be able to analyze the validity of each transaction the company recorded to make sure that the transactions were reported accurately and fairly. They must possess the knowledge and expertise to interpret financial statements or work under situations where information has been either destroyed or tampered with and be analytical and put the pieces of the puzzle back together again. Forensic accountants should be detailed orientated. Being a forensic accountant means that you will be looking at large quantities of numbers from supporting documents and various financial reports...
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...Forensic Elite: Detective of Numbers Tara Albright Strayer University BUS 504 Contemporary Business February 24, 2013 Dr. Jason M. Barrett Forensic Elite: Detective of Numbers No one in the world likes a snitch. In the early 2000’s the urban campaign “Stop Snitching or Die” changed the face of whistle blowing in the United States (Masten, 2009). Neighborhood violence during the “Stop Snitching or Die” campaign increased as law abiding citizen cowered inside their homes as gun shots rang out feet away from their doorsteps (Masten, 2009). In corporate America companies faced huge financial lost as the “Stop Snitching or Die” theology spilled into boardrooms and accounting departments. The corporate world was not as brazen as the urban world killing anyone that help out law enforcement, but the results of company leaders keeping quiet about misconduct slowly murdered the American economic system. While corporate leaders played their hand at boardroom gangbanging by lying, stealing, and falsifying financial documents, the world would see snitching taken to a new level (Masten, 2009). The job of combing through those illegal financial documents would go to an elite set of men and women, called forensic accountant. Forensic accountants help America recover huge amounts of financial dollars by bring corporate leaders to justice who made illegal business decisions (Davis, Farrell, & Ogilby, 2009). Attributes of the Elite Forensic accounting/accountant (FA) involves...
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...Running Head: Forensic Accountant 1 The Forensic Accountant Career Bus-508 Contemporary Business Professor Chris Lin Sarah Reid August 12, 2012 Forensic Accountant 2 1. Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. A document for the Skills needed for Forensic Accounting (2012) suggests that Forensic Accountant needs to possess is computer skills, “since document and financial statements have taken a more electronic format, forensic accountants must demonstrate computer skills in finding the paper trials left behind by corporate criminals. A forensic scientist will use computer software, known in their profession as computer-aided tools and techniques CATT to detect white –collar crimes. Some software includes data extraction, spreadsheet and data mining analysis.” According to forensic Accounting (2012) suggests that Forensic Accountant’s investigative skills involve collecting and analyzing the audited information for possible discrepancies. The investigations delve into both missed by ordinary accounting and auditing methods. A forensic accountant...
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...– COMPUTER FORENSIC OVERVIEW Suppose you were recently hired for a new position as the computer forensics specialist at a mediumsized communications company. You have been asked to prepare a presentation to the Board of Directors on your main duties for the company and how your position could help achieve business goals based on security and confidentiality. You are also aware that the company has just had some issues with employee complaints of ongoing sexual harassment over email and instant messaging systems but has been unable to obtain adequate evidence of any kind. Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you: 1. Explain the basic primary tasks, high-level investigation processes, and challenges of a computer forensics specialist. 2. Provide an overview of how computing devices are used in crimes of today and how these crimes can affect a company’s data and information. 3. Discuss how computer forensics investigations pertain to the law and trying of cases. More Details hidden… Activity mode aims to provide quality study notes and tutorials to the students of CIS 417 Week 2 Assignment 1 – Computer Forensic Overview in order to ace their studies. CIS 417 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT 1 To purchase this visit here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/cis-417-week-2-assignment-1/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM CIS 417 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT 1 – COMPUTER FORENSIC OVERVIEW Suppose you were recently hired for a new position as the computer forensics specialist...
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...dealing and murder take the first seat on America’s top crime list, one is gaining awareness at an increasing rate-white collar crime. Enter in Forensic Accounting. Thanks to popular TV shows like CSI, Bones and Criminal Minds, when people hear the term “forensic” they often think of the forensics that’s involved in the investigations of crime scenes. While that is true, forensic really refers to any investigation methods or techniques that produce results that a court of law will accept as evidence. That is why forensic accounting is a great career option. According to Kreuter (2017), “Forensic accounting is essentially litigation support involving accounting” (p. 6-8). Forensic accountants use their accounting skills to examine financial information and documents for use in legal cases to investigate fraud or embezzlement. The job requires technical skills in accounting, both investigative and legal. Forensic accounting is important because it represents the only truthful approach to gaining a deeper understanding on what exactly is going on behind the scenes of a business’s finances. There are four main types of forensic accounting services. The first and most popular is criminal investigation services. A lot of people would assume that the auditor would perform fraud or criminal investigations, but...
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...A Project Report On “Forensic Accounting And Auditing” Submitted By Durvesh S. Naik Roll No: - 6025 MCOM PART-II (Advanced Accountancy) 2014-15 MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE SAROJINI NAIDU ROAD, MULUND (W.) MUMBAI-80 SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-15 DECLARATION I Durvesh Naik student of Mulund College of Commerce, S. N. Road, Mulund (W.) Mumbai – 80 of Mcom Part II (Advanced Accounting) Seat no: - 6025, hereby declare that I have completed the project on the title “Forensic Accounting and Auditing” during the academic year 2014-15. The information submitted is true and best of my knowledge and belief. Date of submission: - Signature Place:- Parle Tilak Vidyalaya Association's MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE Sarojini Naidu Road, Mulund West, Mumbai 400080. Certificate This is to certify that Mr. __________________________________________________________ Of Mcom. Part II (Advanced Accountancy) Semester _______ has undertaken completed the project work titled _________________________ ______________________________ during the academic year __________ under the guidance of Prof. ______________________________________. Submitted on _________________ to this college on the fulfillment of the curriculum of Mcom (Advanced Accountancy) University of Mumbai. This is a bonafide project work & the information presented is true/ and original to the best of our knowledge...
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... Forensic accounting is often involved with accounting, analyzing financial evidence, auditing, and investigating legal and financial proceedings. This paper will examine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill, describe the role of a forensic accountant within a courtroom, analyze the legal responsibility of a forensic accountant has while providing service to a business, and research two cases where forensic accountants have provided vital evidence in a case. Caleb Newquist touches on the subject of new forensic accountants, “Prospective forensic accountants can count on making many enemies in the course of their work and must be unhinged by the retaliation that normally follows uncovering fraud and other misconduct” (p.1). Their job description comprises of a wide range of duties in which each case they work require different skills and different ideas to become successful. Question 1: Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill The most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess are analytical, creativity, organization or detailed oriented, persistence, and investigative skills. According to Luanne Kelchner editor for eHow, “Forensic accountants must have an analytical personality to perform well in the job. According to the American Institute of CPAs, a group of lawyers, CPAs and forensic accountants...
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...Forensic Accounting & Auditing: A New Paradigm INTRODUCTION Thanks to the popularity of some criminal dramas, the word "forensic" might cause you to think about the process of working a crime scene. These investigators track down criminals using DNA samples, fingerprints, bloodstains, photos and other clues. So at first, you may wonder how the word "forensic" could ever be joined with the word "accounting." It's not as if you've seen accountants working with the other investigators at a crime scene. However, it really depends on the type of crime. “Auditor should be watchdog and not be the bloodhound”. It’s a good quote that every auditor should know. This quote makes the definition of forensic accountants even simpler. The forensic accountant is the bloodhound of Book keeping. External auditors look at the numbers but the forensic auditors look beyond the numbers. Only Forensic just means "relating to the application of scientific knowledge to a legal problem" or "usable in a court of law." Most of the crimes, such as homicides, investigated on a show like "CSI" are known as "crimes against the person." Forensic accounting is simply a specialty field within the broader arena of accounting. The types of crimes forensic accountants investigate are classified as "crimes against property." They investigate crimes such as fraud and give expert testimony in court trials. They also perform work related to civil disputes. Forensic accountants are also known as fraud investigators...
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...Running head: Forensic accountant 1 Forensic Accountant Tanya Pace Dr. Gina Zaffino Bus 508, Contemporary Business 11/16/2012 Running head: Forensic Accountant 2 Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Although forensic accounting is not a new field, it has become more talked about since cases like Enron came to light. For someone interested in the Forensic Accountant profession they should know that this field can be time consuming, but very rewarding. People who work in this career investigate white collar crimes such as company fraud, fraudulent financial record reporting, and illegal investment schemes. In a recent study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows that white collar crimes have cost the United States and estimated 300 billion dollars (DiGabriele 2008). I think five of the skills that a forensic account would need are communication skills, detail oriented, professional and ethical behavior, sound judgment and discretion. Communication skills are vital in any profession. It allows you to convey information for others to receive. The problem with communication is that it can be interpreted differently by other intended parties. As a forensic accountant, communication skills, verbal and non verbal, are important...
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...| Forensic Accountant | | BUS508 Professor Gina Zanfinno Melissa Harris 11/18/2012 | The corporate environment in this country is evolving, and the need for forensic accounting grows along with the progressive economy. Due to the increase in corporate scandals the government issued new, stricter regulations in 2002. Majority of accounting firms within the AICPA stated that their need for forensic accountants surged following the rise of financial statement fraud. Forensic accounting involves a combination of accounting, auditing and investigating. There are some important skills that individuals going out for this position should have and the due diligence in this position is crucial. If pursuing the career of forensic accounting one should develop the necessary skills that will be used in the field. An individual should be analytical, investigative, possess the ability to interpret financial statements, ethically responsible, and hold effective communication skills. Each of these particular skills is important to the field, along with some others that are great in addition. Forensic accountants also should also need the general accounting knowledge in order to understand the information they are required to assess. The ability to analyze the data provided, such as financial statements, audit reports etc will help a forensic accountant figure out their next course of action. Since they are usually retained for court purposes or to resolve a dispute...
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