6 answers
Nathan
Student
Hot Springs, Arkansas
2
Questions
Updated
1645 views
Is there someone here who can tell me the path that they took to become a forensic accountant?
I'm interested in law, but I also enjoy accounting. As such, it seemed a natural step to look into forensic accounting. I'm hoping someone on here would know a bit more about how to become one. #forensic-accounting #forensic #accounting #career
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6 answers
Molly Mescal
Tax Accounting
3
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
Molly’s Answer
Hi Nathan,
I think Samantha's answer above is on point. Just to add a little, you can also look for internships in this field to see if you enjoy it. PwC and other firms have Accounting Forensic Groups (like they have M&A and ITS groups). I would work to try and obtain an internship into one of these groups or volunteer at the IRS etc to gain some insight and experience.
Best of Luck!
Molly
Seleene Manimala D'Souza
Ethics & Compliance Senior Manager
2
Answers
Hoboken, New Jersey
Updated
Seleene’s Answer
Hi Nathan,
I actually started off in audit after graduating with an accounting degree. I was interested in working on accounting investigations after two and half years of working in audit. I think it helped that I switched earlier in my accounting career since I was able to learn really great analytical skills that have helped me throughout my career. I liked the variety of investigations and clients in forensic accounting and it was that variety that led me down my current path in compliance.
I hope this helps - good luck!
Best,
Seleene
I actually started off in audit after graduating with an accounting degree. I was interested in working on accounting investigations after two and half years of working in audit. I think it helped that I switched earlier in my accounting career since I was able to learn really great analytical skills that have helped me throughout my career. I liked the variety of investigations and clients in forensic accounting and it was that variety that led me down my current path in compliance.
I hope this helps - good luck!
Best,
Seleene
Hello, was it hard to learn about the law side of forensic accounting? Did you find this side interesting as well?
Ivana
Diana Zadroga, CFE, CAMS
Forensic and Litigation Consulting
2
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Diana’s Answer
Hi Nathan –
The same thing happened for me... I was able to combine my passion for law and business by pursuing a career in forensic accounting. I would highly recommend searching on LinkedIn for any firms that offer forensic accounting and litigation consulting roles. Nowadays, you’ll see that a lot more firms offer these types of positions too.
Once I joined my first boutique forensic accounting firm, I gained exposure to a lot of fun projects and decided to pursue my Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential. The material was very interesting for me and highly applicable to the type of investigations I was working on. From working on some high-profile anti-money laundering cases, I then pursued the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) credential.
The great thing about this career path is that you will always be in a challenging but rewarding role. There’s always something new to learn especially keeping up with current fraud trends.
Hope this helps and best of luck to you!
The same thing happened for me... I was able to combine my passion for law and business by pursuing a career in forensic accounting. I would highly recommend searching on LinkedIn for any firms that offer forensic accounting and litigation consulting roles. Nowadays, you’ll see that a lot more firms offer these types of positions too.
Once I joined my first boutique forensic accounting firm, I gained exposure to a lot of fun projects and decided to pursue my Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential. The material was very interesting for me and highly applicable to the type of investigations I was working on. From working on some high-profile anti-money laundering cases, I then pursued the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) credential.
The great thing about this career path is that you will always be in a challenging but rewarding role. There’s always something new to learn especially keeping up with current fraud trends.
Hope this helps and best of luck to you!
Joseph R
3
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
<span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">I'd like to add something to Samantha. "</span>Forensic accountants, also referred to as forensic auditors or investigative auditors, often have to give expert evidence at the eventual trial. All of the larger accounting firms, as well as many medium-sized and boutique firms and various police and government agencies have specialist forensic accounting departments. Within these groups, there may be further sub-specializations: some forensic accountants may, for example, just specialize in insurance claims, personal injury claims, fraud, anti-money-laundering, construction, or royalty audits."
Good Luck!
Samantha Davis
Assurance Senior Associate at PwC
19
Answers
Raleigh, North Carolina
Updated
Samantha’s Answer
Hi Nathan! Forensic accounting is a very interesting area to be involved in. Without knowing where you are in your education, the first step would be obtaining an Accounting degree from a 4 year college. Some colleges also offer specific degrees related to Forensic Accounting. After graduating, you will need to consider obtaining certification such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). These certifications both require learning and studying very specific and complex accounting material, before taking a series of tests to obtain the final certification. Finally, you will be ready to begin your career search. Roles in audit or internal audit may help prepare you for a career in Forensic Accounting, or you could consider entry level positions within the government (State or Federal Auditor) or law enforcement.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
Lance G
Accountant
6
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Lance’s Answer
I started my undergrad in Finance and switched to Accounting because my graduation date was 2009 and banks/financial institutions were not hiring Finance majors!
This was an excellent second choice, though, because accounting explains how money is recorded and reported. You have likely heard that accounting is the language of business. If you study accounting in college, then you should have the tools to determine whether a private company, non-profit, or government is healthy or sick.
As a forensic accountant, the job requires keeping an eye out for "sick" indicators and diagnosing the causes for the "sickness" that can really harm organizations. This provides the organization the necessary information to correct the problem and "heal" the organization.
After graduating in accounting I worked for an audit organization, which was a fantastic career that prepared me for forensic accounting.
In audit, the job requires acquiring financial and non financial records to verify known dollar amounts and metrics (internal controls, cost accounting variances, etc.). This provides confidence to the public and tax payers that reported dollars and metrics are reliable and not partially or entirely fabricated.
In forensic accounting, the job requires acquiring financial and non financial records to identify unknown or incomplete dollar amounts and non financial characteristics (badge records that show an employee did not work all hours the employee recorded on the timesheet). It's all about identifying what is known and obtaining adequate and appropriate evidence to complete the picture enough to accomplish these, within reason: verify whether there is a fraud (must maintain objectivity!), put the perpetrators behind bars, identify restitution to repair the damage to victims, and identify all parties that broke the law.
I transitioned from external compliance audit to forensic accounting in 2020 because I was ready for a new adventure. In my situation, audit was too isolated and I didn't get much in person experience. My projects were almost all individual, so I missed the human interaction component. Yes, in 2020 most operations were revised to minimize human interaction, lol, but I had felt that way for a few years.
To join forensic accounting, I met the Supervisory Forensic Accountant during a lunch and we hit it off. I then applied and got the job. My audit experience was a huge benefit to me.
In my current role as a forensic accountant/financial investigator, my favorite part is working with investors and victims to build a case with the appropriate and adequate evidence to prosecute. Data analysis using Excel and Power BI is so much fun!
My least favorite is taking all those bank records and hand written checks and getting them into Excel. Yuck!
This was an excellent second choice, though, because accounting explains how money is recorded and reported. You have likely heard that accounting is the language of business. If you study accounting in college, then you should have the tools to determine whether a private company, non-profit, or government is healthy or sick.
As a forensic accountant, the job requires keeping an eye out for "sick" indicators and diagnosing the causes for the "sickness" that can really harm organizations. This provides the organization the necessary information to correct the problem and "heal" the organization.
After graduating in accounting I worked for an audit organization, which was a fantastic career that prepared me for forensic accounting.
In audit, the job requires acquiring financial and non financial records to verify known dollar amounts and metrics (internal controls, cost accounting variances, etc.). This provides confidence to the public and tax payers that reported dollars and metrics are reliable and not partially or entirely fabricated.
In forensic accounting, the job requires acquiring financial and non financial records to identify unknown or incomplete dollar amounts and non financial characteristics (badge records that show an employee did not work all hours the employee recorded on the timesheet). It's all about identifying what is known and obtaining adequate and appropriate evidence to complete the picture enough to accomplish these, within reason: verify whether there is a fraud (must maintain objectivity!), put the perpetrators behind bars, identify restitution to repair the damage to victims, and identify all parties that broke the law.
I transitioned from external compliance audit to forensic accounting in 2020 because I was ready for a new adventure. In my situation, audit was too isolated and I didn't get much in person experience. My projects were almost all individual, so I missed the human interaction component. Yes, in 2020 most operations were revised to minimize human interaction, lol, but I had felt that way for a few years.
To join forensic accounting, I met the Supervisory Forensic Accountant during a lunch and we hit it off. I then applied and got the job. My audit experience was a huge benefit to me.
In my current role as a forensic accountant/financial investigator, my favorite part is working with investors and victims to build a case with the appropriate and adequate evidence to prosecute. Data analysis using Excel and Power BI is so much fun!
My least favorite is taking all those bank records and hand written checks and getting them into Excel. Yuck!