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Forensic Accountant Career Guide

Forensic Accountant Career Ratings

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Overview

Forensic accounting is often thought as ?the more colourful side of accountancy?. It is a speciality practice area of accounting that investigates fraud or financial irregularities and provides advice on the financial aspects of disputes. Forensic accountants are tasked with the enticing job of working to catch criminals of theft or fraud, and therefore forensic accountants play a crucial role in the criminal justice system.

The role of a forensic accountant is incredibly wide, which makes it an exciting and engaging career! Forensic accountant can work on anything from fraud investigations, to quantifying losses and analysing damages, to valuing business or personal assets in disputes to assisting with data protection issues.

To become a forensic accountant you will generally need a minimum of a bachelor?s degree in accounting of business. Once this is achieved, you will need to take (and pass!) the uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination. Once you land your first job as a forensic accountant, you can expect to receive quite a lot of on the job training.

Once you land that first job, the hours can sometimes be erratic and your work schedule irregular. On a serious note too, there are risk factors involved with forensic accounting as you will work against companies or people who will want to prevent you from presenting the information you have and therefore you may become a victim of blackmail.

However, despite the negative (most of which are unlikely to occur anyway), forensic accounts help solve financial crimes, which will lead to a great sense of satisfaction. They are also in high demand, so the career can be an excellent source of a solid income. What is more, is that forensic accounts help other professionals and business with a wide range of accounting related issues, meaning their work is interesting and fulfilling.

To succeed as a forensic account, you will need to really enjoy working with numbers. You will also need to have the desire to catch the bad guys and show excellent communication skills, problem solving skills and attention to detail. If this sounds like you, then perhaps you?ve just stumbled across the career for you?


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