...Assignment3: Accounting in practice Radhika Chirumamilla Dr. Kuchar 08/07/2013 Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. A forensic accountant assists organizations and individuals chiefly to provide management support in the form of reviews for fraud detection and litigation support, especially through expert witness testimony. In conducting an investigation, a forensic accountant applies specialized skills and technical abilities including: Understanding of law and rules of evidence—A forensic accountant is familiar with criminal and civil law and understands courtroom procedures and expectations. Understanding rules of evidence ensures that all the findings and related documentation is admissible in court. A forensic accountant possesses a basic understanding of the legal process and legal issues. Critical and analytical investigative skills—"An auditor may be a watchdog, but a forensic accountant is a bloodhound!" A forensic accountant must possess a high level of skepticism and the "tenacity of a detective" to thoroughly examine situations for red flags suggesting fraud. Understanding theories, methods, and patterns of fraud abuse—A forensic accountant thinks creatively in order to consider and understand the tactics a fraud perpetrator may use to commit and conceal fraudulent acts. A forensic accountant thinks like the individual who would manipulate accounting records or misrepresent...
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...Forensic Accounting In Practice Contemporary Business 508 This paper discusses the role of forensic accounting practices. It takes a look at the skills sets of forensic accountants and the role they play out in the court room. It goes also analyzes the legal responsibilities of a forensic accountant form a professional perspective as their role for expert opinion in the court room. A forensic accountant is someone uses their accounting credibility for investigative or other legal applications, such as corporate acquisition, divorce proceedings, insurance settlements, or other legal purposes (Brody, Melendy, & Perri, 2012). Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. The first identifiable important skill for a forensic accountant to posses is investigative intuitiveness. The forensic accountant should possess creative and analytical thinking (DiGabrielle, 2008). According to DiGabrielle, the ability to solve a financial puzzle with an incomplete set of pieces is an extremely important characteristic for forensic accountants (p. 336). The forensic accountant is providing a service to a client for the purpose of expert information as it pertains to legal matters or for the purpose of finding or preventing financial misrepresentation. Their role is not to merely...
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...Forensic Accounting in Practice Gabrielle Bryant Dr. Carolyn Green Contemporary Business 11/17/2013 Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations Although forensic accounting is not a new field, it has become more talked about since cases like Enron came to light. For someone interested in the Forensic Accountant profession they should know that this field can be time consuming, but very rewarding. People who work in this career investigate white collar crimes such as company fraud, fraudulent financial record reporting, and illegal investment schemes. In a recent study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows that white collar crimes have cost the United States and estimated 300 billion dollars (DiGabriele 2008). I think five of the skills that a forensic account would need are communication skills, detail oriented, professional and ethical behavior, sound judgment and discretion. Communication skills are vital in any profession. It allows you to convey information for others to receive. The problem with communication is that it can be interpreted differently by other intended parties. As a forensic accountant, communication skills, verbal and non-verbal, are important when it comes to conducting interviews and gathering information. After gathering the records, forensic...
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...Running Head: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING IN PRACTICE Forensic Accounting in Practice Marc Fantone Strayer University Dr. Etta Steed November 17, 2013 Accounting, historically, has been a profession of number tracking, ledger updating and balance sheet reviewing; however, more recently, the need for a skeptical view of accounting business records has developed. In recent years, scandals such as Enron and Bernie Madoff have called for immediate action and needs of forensic accountants with a change in oversight to investigation. According to Zare, “Forensic accounting is unique in that it combines accounting with investigation. These bloodhounds as opposed to the watchdogs that are auditors attempt to sniff out fraudulent transactions from the financial records of banks and companies.” (Zare, 2013) By definition, forensic can be defined as “relating to, used in, or suitable to a court of law.” (Merriam-Webster, 2013) How can this increased level of accounting review and accuracy develop into a role that supports litigation and laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? The level of forensic accounting has led to the development and thought processes of what it actually means to be a forensic accountant. Five (5) Skills of a Forensic Accountant In addition to the basic functionality of a standard accountant, there are additional skills that would be needed for forensic accounting. The skills needed for forensic accounting are associated with practices of the occupation. ...
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...“Forensic Accounting” is a term that you do not hear every day so let’s examine its definition. The Strayer University BUS508 textbook defines accounting as, “The process of measuring, interpreting, and communicating financial information to enable people inside and outside the firm to make informed decisions.” Merriam-Webster defines forensic as, “suitable for a court of law.” Our textbook defines forensic accounting as, “Forensic accounting is accounting performed in preparation for legal review.” The textbook also describes it as, "focus on uncovering potential fraud in a variety of organizations.” The Business Dictionary defines it as a, “Criminal investigation practice whereby investigators analyze financial documents and activities to determine if and how a crime, such as fraud, has been committed by an organization. Tactics include tax analysis, financial reporting review and banking activity oversight.” This also includes white collar crimes such as embezzlement, stock market manipulation and price fixing schemes. This can include the financial impact of marketplace events, such as intellectual property infringement, anti-trust actions, financial reporting fraud, asset impairment and business valuation (Neumann, O'Connor, 2008). It also includes matters of family law, such as matrimonial disputes. In short, "Forensic accounting is the use of accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to assist in legal matters.” They use accounting skills following the GAAP (generally...
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...Accounting Practice: It is the routine manner in which the day-to-day financial activities of a business entity are gathered and recorded. A firm’s accounting practice refers to the method by which its accounting policies are implemented and adhered to on a routine basis, typically by an accountant and auditor or a team of accounting professionals. Accounting in Bangladesh: In Bangladesh, the profession of Accountancy developed during the British colonial period. Today it is represented by two professional bodies, the Institute of Cost and Management Accountant of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). Chartered Accountants complete their training in practicing firms and specialize in financial accounting, financial audit and tax. CMAs receive particular training in cost audit, management audit and management accounting as well as general accounting and taxation. Both the ICMAB and ICAB are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce. The government of Bangladesh considers both type professional accountants equal in respect of employment in government services. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in Bangladesh is based upon standards set by the ICAB which has stated its intention to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) It is the only institution in the country dedicated to Cost and Management Accounting...
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...Forensic Accounting in Practice: Forensic Accountants: Fraud Busters A forensic accountant is part investigator, part auditor, part attorney, and part accountant (Levanti, T.). Due to the increase in high-profile cases of companies and individuals, forensic accounting is a growing and popular field in the business and forensic subjects. A forensic accountant is someone who is often retained to analyze, interpret, summarize, interviews and present complex financial and business related issues in a manner that is both understandable and properly supported (Zysman, A.). Forensic accountants usually work in a public practice or are employed by insurance companies, banks, police or government agencies. They are to investigate and analyze any financial evidence, communicate their findings in reports or documents and assist in legal proceedings, such as testifying in court as an expert witness (Zysman, A.). Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. I think the five most important skills that a forensic accountant needs to posses are to be: (1) analytical, (2) detail-oriented, (3) ethical, (4) responsive, and (5) insightful (Davis, Farrell & Ogilby). Analytical The need to be analytical in a forensic accounting engagement may be the most important overall characteristic, without...
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...Forensic Accounting Practice Bradford Clark Professor Dr. Hanners Lithonia Campus BUS 508 – Contemporary Business March 1, 2012 Strayer University Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. A forensic accountant is a specialist in accounting and financial systems that is trained to detect white collar fraud. Forensic Accounting is a fast growing field in the in the field of accounting. Although it has been around for a long time, it has become increasingly popular in the past few years as there have been a number of corporate scandals, stricter reporting, and internal control regulations involving public awareness and importance in the business world. With the state of the world’s economy forensic accountants are in high demand. Forensic accountants should at least possess a Bachelor degree in accounting. They should also be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and may possess other certifications such as Certified Forensic Accountant (CrFA) and Certified Forensic Accounting Professional (CFAP). The skills needed to become a forensic accountant include strategic critical thinking, problem solving/decision making, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and professional and ethical behavior. Strategic critical thinking is the ability to link data, knowledge...
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...Forensic accounting, sometimes referred to as investigative accounting, is a unique career field that combines accounting with information technology. A forensic accountant uses sophisticated computer programs to analyze financial data and find evidence that would be legally valid during a court proceeding. Forensic accountants are often asked to review financial records for mergers and acquisitions. They may also serve as advisers to a corporation’s audit committee or work to resolve shareholder disputes within a company. Increasing number of cheater people and organizations on accounting and result of its economic damages, economic and commercial disagreements and increasing number of misleading enforcements for the users of financial statements (such as Fuzzy Accounting and Creative Accounting) has been caused of existence of Forensic Accounting. It has widespread practice area in developed countries. Forensic Accounting uses techniquies of researching, accounting and inspecting. So Forestic accountants need to have abilities to do that job. In this research I am going to determine most important skills and legal responsibilities of forensic accountants and role of forensic accountants in courtroom. Required and Expected Skills According to AICPA’s CFF Credential Committee’s survey, the most important skills that a forensic accountant should have are; Thinking analytical (It is the main requirement, like medicine knowledge of a doctor.) , being detail-oriented (...
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...Assignment #3 Forensic Accounting in Practice Professor Demetrius Carolina, Sr. Bus 508-Contemporary Business February 16, 2013 The purpose of my paper is to explore Forensic Accounting and the many aspects surrounding the field. I will determine the skills necessary to be a forensic accountant and its application to business operations. I will also describe the role the forensic accountant plays in a courtroom environment and the role played by the forensic accountant in the litigation process. I will also provide case examples where forensic accountants are used and have provided vital evidence in the case. Today, forensic accounting is a rapidly growing segment of the accounting practice, and the current demand for forensic accountants far outstrips the current supply. Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Have you ever been cheated, robbed or financially hurt by actions of others? Well, out of those feelings civil lawsuits arise based on the desire to reclaim what one perceives he/she has lost unjustly. Financial loss isn’t always easy to define or measure. So, the important task of investigating and quantifying the financial loss normally requires the expertise of a forensic accountant. A forensic accountant is a professional who uses a unique...
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...conducted by two professors from Rider College interviewed over 150 lawyers, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and accounting educators. The study identified sixteen skills needed by forensic accountants. According to the study, the five most important skills are analytical skills, basic accounting skills, problem solving skills, data analysis skills and interviewing skills (McMullen & Sanchez, 2010). Forensic accountants need analytical skills because as they review financial reports and other source documents, they need to analyze the validity of each transaction and determine if the company recorded the transaction fairly. The forensic accountant needs the ability to analyze where the data came from and whether the data accurately reflects the numbers posted in the financial reports (McIntosh, n.d.). With an in house forensic accountant, this will ensure the company’s financial state is accurately reflected while an independent forensic accountant can verify the accuracy of the reports, both of which help investors determine if the company is worth investing in. “Accounting is widely regarded as the language of business” (McMullen and Sanchez, 2010, pg.1). As such, the need for basic accounting skills is self-evident, for a forensic accountant to be able to review financial reports and other source documents he needs to have an understanding of basic accounting. Without that understanding, the forensic accountant couldn’t determine if the entries in the financial journals...
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...Cases from Management Accounting Practice Volume 15 edited by Wayne Bremser Villanova University Jim Mackey California State University Sacramento The American Accounting Association (Management Accounting Section) Institute of Management Accountants (Committee on Academic Relations) Published by Institute of Management Accountants 10 Paragon Drive, Montvale, NJ 07645-1760 Claire Barth, editor and compositor Copyright © 2000 by Institute of Management Accountants. All rights reserved. IMA publication number 00355 ISBN 0-86641-291-3 Preface T he cases in this volume were presented at the Management Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association’s 2000 annual meeting in Mesa, Arizona. The cases describe the implementation and application of management accounting innovations to systems designed to support the maintenance and creation of value in the modern enterprise. Each of the cases presents an application of management accounting techniques to support change management. Starting with an excellent review of the strategic management of new product lines by Mercedes Benz, Tom Albright contributes an interesting and insightful picture of how target costs need to consider both current and strategic value issues. Mercedes’ use of a target cost index to integrate cost and strategic value is particularly interesting. The next three cases focus on the implementation and use of the balanced scorecard and performance measures to influence...
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...Assignment 1: Entrepreneurial Leadership Ericka Bradley Prof: Bagher Fardanes, Ph.D., MPA Business 508 Contemporary Business 18 April 2013 The first Five Guys restaurant opened in 1986 in Arlington Virginia founded by Janie and Jerry Murrell The name Five Guys was inspired by Murrell’s five son’s Matt, Jim, Chad, Ben, and Tyler which are currently involved in the business. Matt and Jim travel visiting over 1000 locations, Chad oversees the training of new employees, Ben is in charge of selecting the rapid growing franchisees, and Tyler is in charge of running the bakery department. Most Five Guys restaurants have a simple layout of tables and chairs for dine in customers where there are bags of potatoes stack along the wall for lack of storage space and also peanuts to enjoy while you wait for your order to be ready. The kitchens are open behind the counter which is used for placing and picking up your orders. The restaurant’s décor is simply a layout of red and white checkered tile, because of the owner’s high concentration on the best juiciest burger on a fresh bun and perfect fresh cut fries. Five Guys uses only 80/20 fresh ground chuck high quality ground beef never frozen with no fillers. They do not use ammoniated procedures to treat the groud beef which means that there is no “pink slime” in the burgers. Five Guys purchase all of their raw materials from major meat suppliers in the United States that follow all procedures set forth by the USDA. The burgers are...
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...incompleteness, the inconsistency, the circular reasoning and non-operationality of the American Framework (Dopuch and Sundern, 1980; Solomons, 1986; Gerboth, 1987; Hines, 1989). Moreover, the decision-useful objective didn’t gather real support when the FASB carried out a survey to determine if constituencies did agree with the Trueblood report objectives of financial reporting (Dopuch and Sunder, 1980). Notwithstanding these issues, the FASB and the IASB go further towards a focus on capital providers needs in their joint project of revision of the Conceptual Framework when writing that financial reporting is not primarily directed to other groups than capital providers. There is a possibility that the objectives assigned to financial accounting as a social activity is directed by a dominant group that imposes its will on all others involved in the activity by making its own objective become the objective of the social activity (Dopuch and Sunder, 1980). Therefore, when criteria are used to justify the identification of primary users, there should be a comprehensive analysis of their definition, their importance for each category of users of financial reporting and if other criteria should be taken into account before reaching strong structuring conclusions on the objective of financial reporting and on identifying their primary users that may reflect the will of a dominant group. As a conclusion, trying to identify a primary user of financial reporting in order to...
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...LaDonna Williams Axia College, University Of Phoenix HCA 270 The Accrual basis of accounting is mostly used by profit-oriented organization, accrual basis is a method of accounting, which provides information that accounts are prepared with the financial transactions that are accrued. It says that under this system revenues and expenses should be recognized and reported for the accounting period in which their economic substance is realized not when they got them or paid for in cash. Revenues are realized when earned whether or not they are received in cash. Incurred expenses are matched, to related revenues. It doesn’t matter if they or not such expenses are actually paid in cash. This means that credit sales from 2010 will become part of the final accounts of 2010 even if they don’t get the cash in late February 2011. We all know that utility bills are billed a month after the service has been used. You usually pay your gas bill for November in the month of December. So what will happen is if a business has a year end of December you will most likely pay December’s bill in January. Although it is still unpaid it is a part of 2010’s statement as an accrual. This method of accounting gives a better picture of what we are earning by including both cash and non-cash items when it comes to calculating profit. When calculating profit the accrual does not only take the actual eleven months electricity bill it also includes the one month bill that hasn’t been paid, but the business...
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