The word “forensic” is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as used in or suitable for use in courts of law or public debate. Their expert testimony gives the report greater credibility and context because they can explain the data and findings in clear, concise language. Becoming a forensic accountant can take 4-6 years — or longer — depending on an individual’s career goals. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees a 10% rise in accounting and auditing careers from 2016 to 2026. What does a Fraud Examiner do? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks salaries for accountants and for forensic science technicians, but not specifically for forensic accountants. As a forensic accountant, you will have a specialization and additional certification that will put you ahead of other accountants in the job market. Forensic accountants provide professional services to attorneys (in-house and outside counsel), insurance companies, and business, government, law enforcement, and individual clients. It can be used in many applications and consists of a wide array of activities. Please try again, Mike Colgan Most cases never go to court, but the forensic accountant’s methodology, case approach, and documentation should be the same in any case and anticipate there will be expert testimony required. Tim Roufa wrote about criminology careers for The Balance Careers and has over 14 years of experience in law enforcement. Experienced forensic accountants can ascend to becoming certified in financial forensics (CFF), a designation from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) that recognizes individual specialty and experience in the field. Often licensed CPAs, forensic accountants may perform some regular accounting duties while also providing litigation support and/or investigating financial crime cases. These disputes can take many forms, such as investigating allegations of fraud or other similar matters, evaluating claims for economic damages, assessing damages in partnership/marital disputes, and more. Forensic accounting is a specialized form of accounting that is conducted by an expert in a particular field. ACH Processing Can Be Painful, But It Doesn’t Need to Be, The Safeguards Rule and CPAs: How to Prepare an Information Security Plan, Business Development Plans while Keeping Socially Distant, Calculating economic damages in complex commercial litigation (e.g., partnership/shareholder disputes, marital disputes, breach of contract, tortious interference, product liability), Assessing insurance claims (e.g., business interruption, property and casualty, subrogation suits), Assessing damages regarding individuals, including personal injury/wrongful death economic damages and discrimination claims, Conducting fraud investigations (e.g., corruption, asset misappropriation, management/employee fraud, corporate investigations). A: Forensic accounting is a growing career. Sign up for weekly accounting industry updates from PICPA's blog, podcasts, and discussion board topics. Computer technology has transformed business, and along with it transformed financial crime. Investigative accountants use their knowledge of tax law and accounting practices to investigate all manner of fraudulent bookkeeping, including tax evasion, embezzlement, and money laundering. They also may be called upon to assist in investigating crimes related to securities fraud and locating financiers of terrorism and criminal acts. Forensic accountants need to be skilled in data collection, data analytics, and data visualization. Forensic accountants are advocates for their opinion. By using The Balance Careers, you accept our. Barbara Andrews, Director of Forensic Services - AICPA, Coronavirus FAQs - Postponements and Cancellations.