Forensic audits cover a wide range of investigative activities. A forensic audit is often conducted to prosecute a party for fraud, embezzlement, or other financial crimes. In the process of a forensic audit, the auditor may be called to serve as an expert witness during trial proceedings.
Who can perform a forensic audit?
Most of forensic audits and forensic examinations are conducted by Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs), or forensic accountants who are normally considered experts in a specific field of forensic accounting. Internal audits are often conducted by either Certified Internal Auditors (CIAs) or other accounting professionals.
How is forensic audit conducted?
The forensic audit process is similar to a traditional financial audit — planning, gathering evidence, and writing a report — with the additional step of a possible appearance in court. The lawyers on both sides offer evidence that the crime is either discovered or disproved, which decides the harm sustained.
What is the scope of forensic audit?
A forensic accountant must determine whether illegal matters such as employee felony, securities embezzlement (including tampering and distortion of financial accounts), identity theft and insurance racket have taken place. The scope of forensic accounting is to: 1.
What do forensic auditors do?
Forensic auditors are investigators of legal and financial documents that are hired to look into possible suspicions of fraudulent activity within a company; or are hired by a company who may just want to prevent fraudulent activities from occurring.
When do you need a forensic audit or an internal audit?
A forensic audit is required when there is suspicion that an employee has intentionally done fraud for his personal gain. In contrast, an internal audit is done as a regular activity for checking whether all the accounting policies, accounting standard has been followed, but mistakes have not done intensely.
Who is the forensic auditor in South Carolina?
Tom Catalano holds the coveted CFP® designation from The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in Washington, DC, and is a Registered Investment Adviser with the state of South Carolina. What Is a Forensic Audit?
