The existence and the persistence of high-profile alleged financial statement fraud (e.g., Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, Satyam), as well as the investment Ponzi schemes and credit crunch scandals, have negatively affected the safety and soundness of financial markets and investors’ confidence in public financial information. Forensic accounting has advanced as an important and rewarding field of accounting to prevent, detect, and correct these financial scandals and other types of fraud. In such an increasingly unstable economic and litigious environment, there has been significant growth in the demand for and interest in forensic accounting and investigative services. Forensic accountants provide litigation consulting, expert witnessing, valuation, and fraud investigation services.
The organization of this book provides maximum coverage and flexibility in choosing the amount and order of materials on forensic accounting and financial statement fraud (FSF) theory, education, and practice. This book is organized into two volumes; each volume can be utilized separately or in an integrated form. The first volume, entitled “Fundamentals of Forensic Accounting,” consists of five chapters and addresses the relevance and importance of forensic accounting and fraud examination as well as the framework and structure of forensic accounting practices. The first chapter presents an introduction to forensic accounting and financial statement fraud examination and their relevance and importance to businesses, financial markets, economies, and society. Chapter 2 presents forensic accounting opportunities, skills, and services. Chapter 3 illustrates the forensic accounting profession. Chapter 4 presents authoritative guidelines for professional responsibilities and codes of conduct for forensic accountants. Chapter 5 describes forensic accounting best practices, education, and research.
Keywords
forensic accounting; financial statement fraud; fraud examination; expert witnessing; litigation consulting; skill sets of forensic accountants; professional standards; codes of professional conduct; fraud and non-fraud forensic accounting services; forensic accounting research; forensic accounting education