Investigation Work by Accountants

When we talk about accounting, the first thought that often comes to our mind is expense reporting, number crunching or tax season. All these things are just fine with accounting, but there is another aspect of accounting with which you may not be familiar.

As some people might realize there is lot more attached with accounting that can engage you apart from going through all the entries of journal to find a discrepancy of one hundred dollars. In accounting there is a section known as damages quantification or financial loss quantification, which uses the same rules and boxes of papers along with some information from the external environment to build the case.

This change in our approach and intention makes it an entirely different discipline. As a member of accounting family, we consider ourselves as someone who is rarely invited to social functions as people are afraid to know the truth about what may happen next. These people are famously known as forensic accountants in our world. The Standard Practices for Investigative and Forensic Accounting Engagements define the work of forensic accountants as the one that requires investigative skills, professional accounting skills, and a mindset bend towards investigation.

Forensic Accountants combine investigative research with accounting techniques to identify financial crimes and related activities that lead to suspicion like white-collar fraud or crimes. These accountants may also work with loss quantification accountants and provide an estimate for damages and losses to legal personnel who may relate it to breaches of contract, shareholders disputes or personal injury.

In order to ascertain the amount of loss, the accountants typically search economic indicators, specific industries and statistical trends. The research done by these accountants enables them to bring forward the information that is in question, or the lack thereof. They are able to pinpoint issues that are present in the concerned problem and probable solutions to such problems.

During the process, these accountants analyse the documents provided by their clients, go through external research and conduct interviews and try to question every situation. For the purpose to present the case in the court they are trained to sketch down calculated conclusions and provide evidence through expert accounting at the trial.

Therefore, it is important for them to go through each and every detail of every case. Forensic accountants have to bear the responsibility to make sure that all the information they provide to the public is accurate and is supported by research if required. There is lot of pressure for quality work from this accountability practice.

You may argue that anyone can go to internet and find endless amount of information on anything. Even though it is true, but can we really trust this information? There are certain sites which are user friendly and easily accessible and are updated by the public. Most the content published on these popular websites is reviewed by electronic automatic systems and expert viewers. Accountants have various responsibility, they serve various purpose in and out of the organization.