• Private Corporations / Firms
• Insurance Companies
• Government Organizations
• Public accounting firms
• Law firms

Cost Accountant

The duties of a cost accountant include budgeting, cost management, performance evaluation, and asset management within a company or organization. They may work with corporate executives to make a strategic financial plan for the company, or they ..

Company Secretary (CS)

The company secretary acts as a bridge between the company and its Board of directors, shareholders, government, and regulatory authorities. The company secretary has to impart various services ranging from advising the companies on good governanc..

Commerce

Having reliable financial information is vital for any business or government organization. No longer considered just "number crunchers," accountants play a vital role in the sound financial management of a company. Businesses ..

Chartered Financial Analyst

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is a specialized professional who looks after the financial decisions and investment policies of big companies. A Chartered Financial Analyst is a person trained in areas of management accounting, financial mana..

Chartered Accountant (CA)

Behind every successful business is a team of chartered accountants, who are trained to minimize losses and maximize gains while remaining in the jurisdictions of the law and following all industry-specific regulations. The role of a chartered acc..

Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountant or CPA provides accounting services to the public and organizations. They are primarily involved in auditing and attesting procedures. They are very well versed with accounting principles, business, and financial concep..

WORK DESCRIPTION

• Perform forensic research to trace funds and identify assets for recovery
• Conduct forensic analysis of financial data
• Prepare forensic accounting reports from financial findings
• Prepare analytical data for litigation and testify the same as needed
• Analyze and investigate financial statements and reports for signs of irregularities
• Reconstruct the events and activities involved in financial wrongdoing
• Create presentations in support of legal cases, and may be called upon to testify in court regarding their findings
• Audit records, investigate into inconsistencies, trace assets, and interview individuals who created, contributed to, or reviewed records under analysis

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks salaries for accountants and for forensic science technicians, but not specifically for forensic accountants. The salary figures below are for accountants and auditors. Forensic science technicians have a median annual salary of $58,230 with the bottom 10% earning less than $34,600 and the top 10% earning more than $97,200.

• Median Annual Salary: $70,500 ($33.89/hour)
• Top 10% Annual Salary: $122,840 ($59.05/hour)
• Bottom 10% Annual Salary: $43,650 ($20.98/hour)

Career Pros Details

• Professionals in this field are high in demand
• Decent remuneration and perks
• Is an interesting combination of law and accountancy

Career Cons Details

• It is an added skill and not a whole career domain in itself
• Long and tedious work hours
• Requires utmost honesty and dedication

• Analytical skills: Forensic accountants look for inconsistencies in finances or clues into what suspects might have attempted to do or cover up. This involves the analytical skills necessary to identify patterns or a lack of patterns.
• Communication skills: Forensic accountants need to cooperate with others involved in investigations and sometimes testify in court. People they communicate with don’t always have an accounting background, so information needs to be conveyed in a way that is understood by everyone.
• Math skills: Being good at math is at the heart of being a good accountant. Forensic accountants should be able to look at a set of numbers and quickly deduce what they mean. This doesn’t require high-level equations, but it’s necessary to do basic math quickly enough to visualize what’s going on with a set of financial records.
• Attention to detail: Criminal activity related to finances often is subtle, and it takes a detail-oriented accountant to pick up the smallest inconsistencies that might indicate something is not right.