Working in a Forensic Accounting Team: Key Roles and Responsibilities

This report provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities within a forensic accounting team, including the functions of internal auditors, external auditors, forensic accountants, and lawyers. It details how each role contributes to financial investigations, data analysis, and the detection of fraud. The report highlights the objectives of internal auditors, the collaboration between forensic accountants and external auditors, and the specific tasks of forensic accounting investigators. Furthermore, it emphasizes the critical importance of privacy and confidentiality throughout the investigation process, detailing measures to protect sensitive information and limit access to investigative documents. The report concludes by underscoring the need for proper disclosure formats and non-disclosure agreements to prevent leaks and maintain the integrity of the investigation. References to relevant literature are included to support the analysis.

WORKIGN IN A FORENSIC
TEAM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1.....................................................................................................................................3
i Internal Auditor.........................................................................................................................3
ii. Forensic accountants with external auditors............................................................................3
iii. Objectives of internal auditors in forensic investigation........................................................3
iv. Role of forensic accounting investigators..............................................................................3
SECTION 2.....................................................................................................................................4
Forensic accountants with lawyers..............................................................................................4
SECTION 3.....................................................................................................................................4
Importance of privacy and measures that can be taken...............................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

SECTION 1
i Internal Auditor
An internal auditor is mainly tasked with the responsibility of covering and monitoring all
the day to day activities being performed at the business and verifies the authenticity of the
transactions that are being performed. The company and the systems that are working, the
transactions that are taking place, process of noting and recording errors etc. is also under the
purview of the internal auditor (Nigrini, 2020). They obtain all the relevant background
information related to the people, process and systems of the organisation and then analyse these
so that they can act as internal advisers and consultants as well for forensic accountants.
ii. Forensic accountants with external auditors
External auditors act as the key sources of information through which the forensic
accountants can obtain all the relevant information. The external auditors are familiar with the
practices of the organisation and the measures that they are adopting which ultimately is of key
assistance fo the forensic auditors. Also, in order to obtain relevant data, forensic accountants
have to wait for longer time period but meanwhile the external auditors can thoroughly brief
them regarding the practices that are being adopted (Simeunović, Grubor and Ristić, 2016). The
external auditors also evaluate the scope of the forensic accountants and guide them that whether
their work is adequate for the company without involvement of forensic accounting
investigators.
iii. Objectives of internal auditors in forensic investigation
Internal auditors mainly work with the objective of ensuring that the annual audit plan of
the company is completed within the time that has been allotted. The internal auditor works in
collaboration with the management but they also strive to shield or protect the internal audit team
from facing criticism of any kind (Tiwari and Debnath, 2017). Thus there another objective is
also to detect as many wrongdoings as possible while working in the individual capacity as an
internal auditor so that later any fraud recognition does not creates a problematic situation for the
auditors. Overall internal insight that is possessed by the internal auditors and the knowledge of
probable loop holes as well acts as major source of assistance in forensic investigation.
iv. Role of forensic accounting investigators
While working in the forensic team, the forensic accounting investigators are mainly tasked
with the role of identification of the parties that are involved and if there are any co-
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conspirators. It further analyses if the fraud was instigated by the supervisors of senior managers
of the company and the magnitude of the overall crime or fraud that has been committed by the
company (Kranacher and Riley, 2019). The impact that it has on the financial statements of the
company is also measured along with the analysis of the key schemes that were identified or the
time period over which the fraud took place collectively. Lastly, the reason due to which fraud is
occurring is also evaluated by the investigators.
SECTION 2
Forensic accountants with lawyers
Although the ultimate responsibility is of the attorney to lead a successful investigation but
yet the forensic investigators can contribute to the overall investigation in a significant manner.
They can provide expertise in analysing the data of the finances of the company looking out for
data mining and theft. The forensic investigators further assist the lawyers in developing proper
investigative techniques and test relevant hypothesis as well (Domino, Giordano and Webinger,
2017). Their ability to quickly and efficiently review all the financial transactions of the
company, providing expertise in forensic imaging, IT, emailing etc. can also assist in providing
necessary assistance for adequate authentication and checking. The analysis of the information
related to the vendors and the preparation of the drafts as well as financial reports that are related
to accounting and finance are also prepared by investigators. Lastly, it can also be attributed that
the network of international investigators helps the lawyers when the investigation is being
performed at global level.
SECTION 3
Importance of privacy and measures that can be taken
Privacy and confidentiality are some of the key terms that are associated with the entire
investigation and there are only certain select parties that can be informed about all the
investigations that take place. The stakeholders are the key parties who need to be informed
about the investigations, the allegations and the progress at each stage. However, any mishaps
that can happen by the leak of the misstatements in the media or with the competitors can create
an extremely disastrous situation for the investigators as well as the management of the
company. The emphasis should be on the adoption of the proper disclosure format (Ozuomba,
2016). The key measure is to limit the number of people who have access to the investigative
documents that are being prepared and the internal discussions that are taking place.
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Additionally, developing a non- disclosure agreement can help in limiting the leaks and
unnecessary spread of information of the investigation however with the clause that investigators
can make disclosure as and when deemed appropriate.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Domino, M.A., Giordano, G. and Webinger, M., 2017. An investigation of the factors that
impact the perceived value of forensic accounting certifications. Journal of Forensic and
Investigative Accounting. 9(1). pp.637-653.
Kranacher, M.J. and Riley, R., 2019. Forensic accounting and fraud examination. John Wiley &
Sons.
Nigrini, M.J., 2020. Forensic analytics: methods and techniques for forensic accounting
investigations. John Wiley & Sons.
Ozuomba, C.N., 2016. Forensic Accounting and Fraud in th. Research Journal of
Management. 5(12). pp.1-6.
Simeunović, N., Grubor, G. and Ristić, N., 2016. Forensic accounting in the fraud auditing
case. The European Journal of Applied Economics. 13(2). pp.45-56.
Tiwari, R.K. and Debnath, J., 2017. Forensic accounting: a blend of knowledge. Journal of
Financial Regulation and Compliance.
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