There is a simple and rather obvious reason the future employment prospects for anyone involved in accounting, forensic accounting, fraud analysis and data security are bright and will continue to get brighter. Most financial institutions still haven’t solved the problems associated with identity theft and digital security. Combine these challenges with the ever-present demand for experienced investigators to combat white-collar crime and it is hard to envision a world where fraud examiners aren’t only crucial, but indispensable.
Fighting Math with Math
The intricacy of most financial crimes in the 21st century cannot be defeated by simple analysis and computer-assisted algorithms. It takes an experienced mind to see the iteration and possibilities before an investigation can start to follow the right path. An experienced fraud examiner doesn’t always uncover these schemes by applying their book knowledge. More often they figure out their suspect’s angle by comparing it to cases they’ve seen before. Most of the time, those experience-generated leads are the ones that pay off.
Ranking: 30 Top Affordable Master’s in Accounting / Master of Accountancy Degree Programs
Finding the Weaknesses
Many of the most sophisticated schemes begin with hidden assets or liabilities and eventually grow into unimaginable nests of corruption. One need only note some of the biggest collapses of companies over the last ten to fifteen years to agree almost all the problems began with acts or omissions that were tantamount to bald-faced larcenies committed in broad daylight with rooms full of witnesses.
Being able to identify missing pieces and then having the knowledge and skill to track them down is the mark of a well-educated and experienced fraud examiner. Had some of these men and women been on the case when some of the more egregious examples of securities fraud, bank fraud, larceny, and conspiracy come to light over the last few years, things may have turned out differently.
Ongoing Opportunity
If there were no other opportunities available for fraud examiners, one field remains that is indispensable and that is education. Not only do future investigators have to be trained in the techniques and knowledge they need to combat financial crime, but individual citizens must be made aware of the voluminous means by which criminals ply their trade at the expense of those who can often least afford to lose their money or their property.
Both public institutions and private companies should cooperate to make financial literacy and an awareness of the conditions under which financial crime flourishes a top priority in every educational context possible. The idea that a civilized society would not do what is necessary to protect the hard-won property of all its people in this day and age is unfathomable. It is something fraud examiners and investigators with similar skills should dedicate themselves to establishing at the earliest possible opportunity.
The elements of a financial crime are generally rather similar from case to case. Only a trained investigator can know for sure. The role of the fraud examiner will continue to be vitally important as they alone stand between the citizenry and those who would unfairly deprive them of what they’ve earned.
Source: Forbes
