Issues in forensic accounting.

Forensic accounting refers to that aspect of accounting profession, which seek to provide litigation support services in relation to the court of law or court proceedings. Forensic accounting is concerned with the use of the accounting discipline to help determine issues of fact in business litigation. It involves the application of accounting,business,legal and financial skills to assist in resolving existing or potential commercial or legal disputes.
Forensic accounting services cover any dispute, conflict or investigation which requires expert financial analysis,where the evidence so obtained could be presented in the court of law. However,it should be noted that not every forensic accounting process ends up in the court.
Demand for forensic accounting.
Increase of fraud in the world is been alarming in the past few decades. Increase in fraud has been attributed to a number of factors, namely.
1. Economic pressure.
2. The weakening of moral values.
3. The increased sophistication of criminals.
4. Government corruption.
5. Inadequate training of authorities in fraud prevention and detection.
6. Uncertainty and fears about the future.
7. Impacts globalization of economics and information technology, such as Electronic Money Transfer(EMT)
All these factors have complicated the task of investigation into fraudulent activities.
Meaning and attributes of a forensic accountant.
A forensic accountant is qualified accountant or the auditor employed to provide evidence in the litigation process which will be admissible in the court of law. An auditor who serves as a forensic accountant is required to have requisites skill, education and experience and adopt a professional approach in his work. Enumerated diverse skill which a forensic accountant would be expected to possess in order to achieve his goals. These qualities include;
1. Comfortable in adversarial environments.
2. Creative in dealing with incomplete or disorganized records.
3. Used to subordinating their role to lawyer in a litigation process.
4. Comfortable and familiar with the broad range of business records and record keeping practice beyond those used to satisfy financial requirements.
5. Being capable of serving as investigators as well as accountants.
6. Abilities to identify financial issues.
7. Knowledge of investigation techniques.
8. Knowledge of evidence requirements (what constitute evidence,the meaning of best and primary evidence and the various accenting summaries can take to consolidate the financial evidence in an admissible way the court.
9. Ability to interpret financial information.
10. Ability to clearly communicate the finding results from the investigation in an understandable fashion to the lay person, both in speech and writing.
11. The ability to think creatively and laterally
12. An investigative mentality(intuition)
13. A suspicious mind.
14. Curiosity.
15. Persistence.
16. Common business sense and a sound understanding of business method.
17. An ability to appear objective and professional.
18. An ability to operate in unstructured situations.
19. Team spirit.
20. Lateral thinking ability.
21. Courtroom experience.
22. Ability to react quickly.
23. Good track record and relevant experience.
24. Integrity.
25. Independent, impartiality.
26. Thoroughness.
Scope of forensic accounting.
Identifies three broad areas of forensic accounting services to include investigative accounting/auditing