Should I Consider Becoming a Forensic Auditor?

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Forensic auditors are business professionals who do investigative scrutiny for clients who may be victims of fraud or other illegal activity. Accounting, valuation, analysis, damages, antitrust, and consulting are some of the services they provide. They may be called to help with personal injury claims process in Canada, royalty auditing, and terrorism tracking. Working closely with law enforcement personnel, lawyers, and often appearing as expert witnesses is also part of what forensic auditing may encompass.

According to Glassdoor, some forensic auditors can make up to $35,000 per year or $32.54 per hour on average. This is a decent salary for an intermediate position with advancement opportunity.

Forensic Auditors Require Special Skills

There are special procedures, which forensic auditors must carry out in order to prove factual information in fraud, to quantify monetary amounts, and to identify individuals involved. These types of investigation require hours of research and study of documents provided and looking at long paper trails and possible patterns in these fraudulent behaviors. Bribery, conflicts of interest and extortion are usually avenues of need for involvement of these types of specialists. A good forensic auditor will have excellent skills in being able to assess attributes that may not be visible to the untrained individual.

Asset misappropriation is one of the most common types of fraud. Stealing physical cash, usually petty cash is one way to misappropriate funds. Fraudulent disbursement like billing schemes where funds are paid to a fictitious supplier may be something that goes unnoticed for months or even years. Inventory frauds and payroll schemes are also done with expertise by thieves that are truly good at hiding these tactics. Falsifications of transfer balances, disclosures, and misapplication of financial reporting standards are all fraudulent activities that are often performed by individuals who are trusted with information and bank accounts.

Much of the investigative process requires tenacity of the individual to stay with the process of fact-finding. The accountant may want to consider initially if their firm has the special skills and resources it will take to conduct a thorough investigation, thereby choosing the type of claims or cases they are willing to accept. This type of investigating also requires detailed knowledge of legal frameworks and investigative techniques that are specialized for that particular type of fraud.

Proper Planning – Necessary for Forensic Auditors

Proper planning of the investigation of events will determine the success of the audit. Usually done with a team concept, everyone on this team should have a clear vision of what the common goal will be with the ultimate outcome being to expose the person or people responsible, and to be able to substantiate in a court of law the validity of the claim.

Gathering evidence is time consuming and must be stringent in nature. The auditor must identify channels of breached security, as well. Comparing trends, computer techniques, and other substantive techniques are all tools used in this type of reporting. Summary of evidences and clear conclusions will reveal information expected by officials to prove the accusation of fraud.