Forensic Accounting in Practice

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Forensic Accountants investigate business frauds, improper financial reporting, and illegal investment schemes (Kurtz & Boone, 2012, p. 503). Their main focus is to uncover financial fraud within an organization. “The field of forensic accounting is not a new concept, though it has grown in popularity in recent years. The basis of the field is founded upon understanding the mind of fraudsters in order to understand why frauds are committed” (Hecht & Redmond). Due to the large amount s of cases in fraud, forensic accounting has become an important career in recent years. Forensic accountants are tasked with piecing together puzzles from big company scandals. They are in charge of rebuilding the entire financial systems, uncover financial fraud, trace funds, discover hidden assets and much more (Hecht & Redmond). The five most important skills needed to be a forensic accountant are; being an effective oral communicator, being able to simplify information, be a critical/strategic thinker, to be able to identify key issues and have auditing skills (Davis, Farell, & Ogilby). Being an excellent oral communicator and simplifying information would be the skills considered the most important. A forensic accountant must condense and simplify very complicated information and present it in terms that are easy to understand. Both verbal and written skills are extremely important and a very important key in interpreting financial information. They should feel comfortable with oral evidence and demonstrate the natural ability convince their opinion to the court staff which includes judges, attorneys and the jury (Yankunas, 2011). The forensic accountant must be a critical/strategic thinker. They need to knowledgeable, quick thinker experts that will have the ability to look at the bigger picture and don’t look at the small details (Yankunas, 2011). They must

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