How Do Forensic Accountants Assist in Financial Crime Investigations
Silutoni, Levi (2023)
2023
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023053116641
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023053116641
Tiivistelmä
This thesis will explore the profession of forensic accounting and specifically in how their part in fraud investigations. Finding the answer to this question leads to breaking down a forensic accountant to the individual parts that are necessary to be a successful forensic accountant.
The thesis originally consisted of two sides. A theoretical side, that is based on desktop research from research papers to textbooks to gain an understanding of the field and its constituents The second part was intended to consist of interviews, providing expertise from professionals and give a practical view on the profession. This was not executed as planned and the solution was to use papers that are based on surveys and interviews to still give the viewpoint that was initially planned.
The theory breakdowns a forensic accountant’s toolset into three parts, technical skills, investigative skills, and critical thinking skills. From the research done for this thesis that was a reasonable split to make. Each part breaks down into specific skills and fields of knowledge. All these together give a good overview of the constituents that compose a forensic accountant.
The findings indicated that a lot of the topics discussed in the theory correlated with the papers chosen to represent the views of forensic accountants. The difference came in what skills or knowledge were considered to be more important. While here more emphasis was placed on the hard skills such as accounting or knowledge on financial law. Professionals emphasized the importance of softer skills such as communicating, both through speaking and writing.
Further research should include conducting original interviews to gain insight from forensic accounting professionals. Forensic accountants work within the legal and regulatory framework of individual nations. Thus, to get the most detailed account of the profession it would be best to examine the accountants of one nation. Additional research options include further exploration of specific investigative techniques or the legal aspects of the profession.
The thesis originally consisted of two sides. A theoretical side, that is based on desktop research from research papers to textbooks to gain an understanding of the field and its constituents The second part was intended to consist of interviews, providing expertise from professionals and give a practical view on the profession. This was not executed as planned and the solution was to use papers that are based on surveys and interviews to still give the viewpoint that was initially planned.
The theory breakdowns a forensic accountant’s toolset into three parts, technical skills, investigative skills, and critical thinking skills. From the research done for this thesis that was a reasonable split to make. Each part breaks down into specific skills and fields of knowledge. All these together give a good overview of the constituents that compose a forensic accountant.
The findings indicated that a lot of the topics discussed in the theory correlated with the papers chosen to represent the views of forensic accountants. The difference came in what skills or knowledge were considered to be more important. While here more emphasis was placed on the hard skills such as accounting or knowledge on financial law. Professionals emphasized the importance of softer skills such as communicating, both through speaking and writing.
Further research should include conducting original interviews to gain insight from forensic accounting professionals. Forensic accountants work within the legal and regulatory framework of individual nations. Thus, to get the most detailed account of the profession it would be best to examine the accountants of one nation. Additional research options include further exploration of specific investigative techniques or the legal aspects of the profession.