You’ve just earned the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) credential by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. What does that allow you to do?
The CFF designation is granted to CPAs that meet certain requirements including education and experience in forensic accounting skills in a number of areas- bankruptcy, computer forensics, economic damages, fraud investigations, shareholder disputes and business valuation. The designation is intended to demonstrate a commitment to financial forensics and that certain minimum standards have been attained.
What is financial forensics and what areas do you focus on?
Forensics according to Wikipedia is “the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system.” Financial forensics applies these “scientific” methods to the investigation of financial accounting transactions. More typically, financial forensics invokes fraud — think Madoff, Enron, etc. — where a “money trail” is followed leading to the discovery of, for example, security fraud, money laundering or tax fraud. My focus is on business valuation and litigation support – including areas such as shareholder disputes, marital dissolution, patent and intangible valuation litigation and other business disputes – (ie commercial litigation).
Are financial forensics practitioners more in demand now than in the past? Has the financial crisis increased the demand for financial forensic practitioners?
The demand for forensic accounting — financial forensics — has increased dramatically over the past few years and will most likely increase as investigations into Madoff-type frauds and other fraudulent activities occur. The need for accreditation in financial forensics is all the more important as clients and attorneys will seek those practitioners with the appropriate skills and experience.
Does financial fraud become more prevalent in an economic crisis like we are experiencing now?
I believe that the economic downturn has led to the discovery of frauds, as Ponzi-type schemes cannot be maintained under economic duress. The “peak”, if you will, of financial fraud occurs when markets are “frothy” and filled with speculative hype. It is at that point that the “herd” in its haste to join the mix, disregards reason and becomes susceptible to the most basic of human conditions — greed. As the transactions or deals unwind and losses mount, thoughts turn to remedies and investigations.
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