Career in Forensic Accounting - Options and Opportunities

Introduction

Forensic accounting is the branch of accounting which utilize principles of accounting, auditing and investigation skills to handle legal matters. Its main function is to investigate and analyze financial records of any client or firm who are involved in a legal dispute. It mainly consists of 3 areas- litigation (law suit) support, investigation and dispute resolution.

Professionals in this field are known as Forensic accountants. They apply their knowledge of accounting, law and finance and investigative techniques to determine whether an activity is legal or illegal. Forensic accountant is an experienced auditor who acts as a watch dog of accounts of the organisation, to keep check of the frauds. Forensic accountant has various other roles to play such as an accountant, detective and legal expert.

Performance and growth of industry in NIGERIA

Increase in the rate of crimes, such as banking and investments embezzlement, securities fraud has increased the demand of professionals who have strong analytical, investigative skills and are expert in this field.

In Nigeraia, in the wake of the war against corruption, demand for forensic accountants have gone up. Forensic accounting is one of the highly paid jobs in the world, but here in Nigeria, not muh is heard about it except for high profile cases. But now, the demand for forensic accountants is exceeding the supply which has given a wide scope to the professionals in this field.

Forensic Accounting firms are everywhere and will exist as long as human beings exist, but here in Nigeria, consulting firms like KPMG and co are begining to look deep into this are for the Nigeria market the science of Forensic Accountancy, which is a unique blend of education and experience in applying Accounting, Auditing and Investigative Skills to Uncover Truth, Form Legal Opinions and to Assist in Litigation Support.

IFA Members provides assistance on cases which are primarily related to calculation and estimation of Economic Damages and Related Issues including White-collar Crimes. Forensic Accounting is the latest additional profile to the accountant’s business portfolio. There is an increasing demand for Forensic Accountant’s services and our experience has shown that this demand needs Qualified Forensic Accountants that are developed at a Professional Level and made available to the public.

Forensic Accountants often assist in professional negligence claims where they are assess and comment on the work of other professionals. Forensic Accountants are also engaged in marital disputes by analyzing lifestyle for spousal support purposes, determining income available for child support and equitable distribution of finance. Engagements relating to criminal matters typically arise in the aftermath of fraud and  Forensic Accountants are frequently involved in the assessment of accounting systems, policies and accounts presentation—in essence, to assess professionally whether if the numbers reflect the reality.

Our trained forensic accountants specialized in forensic analytic s which is the procurement and analysis of electronic data to reconstruct, detect, or otherwise support a claim of financial fraud.

The main steps in forensic analytic s are:
 (a) data collection,
(b) data preparation,
(c) data analysis, and
(d) reporting.

For example, forensic analytic s may be used to review an employee’s purchasing card activities in order to assess whether any of the purchases were diverted for personal use.

Forensic Accountants  handle cases related to litigation support, business failure causation, personal injury claims, fraud, construction claims,  intellectual property damages, patent infringement damages, post-acquisition disputes,  royalty audits, etc.

Options and Opportunities

Forensic Accountants has huge opportunities in this field as the demand of such professionals is high as compared to the supply. Forensic Accountants are required in most of the major accounting firms for

1. investigating mergers and acquisitions,
2. specialized audits
3. civil litigation support,
4. economic crime investigations,
5. tax investigations
6. terrorist investigations.
7. divorce disputes,
8. business carelessness investigation claims, and
9. personal injury claims.
10. Economic damages calculations, whether suffered through tort or breach of contract;
11. Business/Employee fraud investigations ;
12. Financial/Securities frauds;
13. Business interruptions/Business failures;
14. Computer forensics/e-discovery ;
15. Discovery of hidden assets ;
16. Professional negligence ;

Courses Available

- Post Graduate Diploma in Forensic Accounting
- Certificate Course in Forensic Accounting Professional
- Certified Anti-Money laundering Expert
- Certified Bank Forensic Accounting
- Certified Vigilance and Investigation Expert

Qualification required

In order to be a Certified Forensic Accountant one must meet the following criteria:
- Graduate Degree from the Recognized University.
- Professional Experience of at least three years
- Pass the IFA examination conducted by forensic  body with at leat 75% marks

Some good institutes

- The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi (Delhi)
- The Institute of Forensic Accountants (IFA) Nigeria
-Institute of Certified Forensic Accountants  USA