A Day in the Life of a Forensic Accountant
October 3, 2024
The accounting field offers many avenues for potential career growth, from leadership opportunities in traditional areas like corporate and government accounting to emerging subfields that empower professionals at any career stage to pursue their passions. If the chance to conduct fraud investigations and stop financial crime sounds appealing, forensic accounting can offer you both exciting opportunities and the ability to make a difference.
What Is Forensic Accounting?
Forensic accounting — just one of many types of accounting — seeks to uncover evidence of financial crimes. To succeed in this field, professionals need expertise in financial investigation strategies as well as accounting techniques. Most forensic accountants also hold a certified public accountant (CPA) license, so completing the requirements to become a CPA is an important first step if you’re interested in pursuing work in this area of the field.
All forensic accountants play a part in investigating various types of financial crime depending on the industry in which they’re employed. Professionals in these roles often work in insurance, law enforcement, finance, and government institutions. The crimes they investigate may include:
- Embezzlement
- Financial fraud (credit card, insurance, investment, etc.)
- Fake charities
- Identity theft
- Insider trading
- Money laundering
- Ponzi schemes
- Tax evasion
What Does a Forensic Accountant Do?
The most successful forensic accountants are detail-oriented and possess a thorough understanding of financial investigation, criminal behavior, and finance law in addition to their expertise in managing and analyzing data. Their individual responsibilities will depend on their job description, but most tasks they’re responsible for serve one of two purposes – criminal investigation or litigation support.1
When forensic accountants are involved in criminal investigation, they are tasked with either discovering if a crime has taken place or identifying the individual who committed a known crime. To accomplish either of these goals, forensic accountants often1:
- Assess financial records
- Conduct asset recovery
- Gather evidence
- Interview witnesses
- Locate hidden assets
- Perform due diligence reviews
- Report findings to law enforcement
- Trace funds
When a forensic accountant acts as litigation support, the accountant provides expert testimony in a civil or criminal court case. They will likely be asked to estimate economic damages or provide evidence of the details surrounding a financial crime. To this purpose, the forensic accountant may be required to1:
- Clarify financial regulations
- Estimate the financial damage of a crime
- Explain complex financial records
- Provide written statements regarding their expert opinions
- Respond to questions from a judge and/or lawyers
- Summarize their investigative findings
- Testify in court
The daily role of a forensic accountant depends on their role and the industry they are employed in. Below, learn more about typical jobs for forensic accountants.
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Forensic Accounting Jobs
When it comes to planning your forensic accounting career path, keep in mind that many jobs involve the investigation of financial crime, even if they don’t include the words “forensic accountant” in their titles. For example, success in any of the positions detailed below requires expertise in forensic accounting.
Certified Fraud Examiner
Salary: $83,6102
Job Description
Certified fraud examiners conduct fraud investigations by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses and suspects, drafting reports and testifying to their findings. The ability to think critically and utilize reasoning is essential to professionals in this role, as they will be required to make judgments based on information from a variety of sources.
Required Education
To become a certified fraud examiner, you’ll need to earn a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential. For a program that can prepare you to earn both your CPA and CFE upon graduation, check out 91̽’s online Master of Accountancy and Analytics.
Special Agent – Accounting/Finance
Salary: $81,000-$129,0003
Job Description
The Federal Bureau of Investigation recruits special agents from a range of backgrounds, including accounting. As a special agent with expertise in forensic accounting, you could work in counterintelligence, cybersecurity, organized crime, or counterterrorism to identify financial crimes, find hidden assets and trace suspicious transactions.
Required Education
The minimum required education to become an FBI special agent in accounting/finance is a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or business. However, a master’s degree could help you stand out as a candidate, especially when combined with additional work experience in other forensic accountant jobs.
Auditor
Salary: $79,8804
Job Description
Auditors closely examine an organization’s financial records to look for signs of inaccuracies, compliance with reporting structures and regulations, sources of revenue, internal controls and more. Professionals skilled in forensic accounting may be employed as internal auditors by the organization they’re auditing or as external auditors as part of a separate firm. Some auditors also work specifically in information technology to help safeguard financial data.
Required Education
Top auditor jobs typically prefer to hire professionals who have earned their CPA license, which requires 150 total credit hours of college-level education. Many people fulfill this requirement by earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting or a related field. A master’s degree is recommended for professionals pursuing leadership or management roles.
Chief Financial Officer
Salary: $148,8005
Job Description
The chief financial officer oversees the finance and accounting operations of an entire organization. As such, forensic accounting is an extremely useful skill for a professional hoping to become a CFO. In addition to being an expert in both accounting and team management, a CFO must also be able to spot signs of problematic financial practices, embezzlement, fraud, and other criminal activity in an organization’s financial data.
Required Education
Due to the level of expertise required to function as a CFO, it’s recommended that you earn a master’s degree and become a CPA before pursuing this position. CFOs also tend to have several years of experience in both accounting and management before becoming the top finance employee in their company.
Financial Examiner
Salary: $66,6206
Job Description
Financial examiners often work for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to ensure compliance with federal regulations regarding finance, real estate, and investments. Professionals in these roles need a thorough understanding of finance and tax law, as they are responsible for making sure institutions’ practices align with these regulations. Financial examiner is one of the quickest growing roles in forensic accounting, with expected job growth rates of 19% in the state of Ohio and 20% nationwide by 2032.7
Required Education
Financial examiners need at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field, but some employers may prefer candidates who hold a master’s degree.
How to Become a Forensic Accountant
To succeed in forensic accounting, you’ll need advanced problem-solving, accounting and analytics expertise. At 91̽, you can gain all of these skills and more in the AACSB-accredited online MAcc program. Featuring a practice-based curriculum taught by supportive, expert professors, this program includes multiple pathways to graduation for students with or without an accounting bachelor’s degree.
Graduate in just 20 months prepared with the real-world skills you need to pass the CPA exam and excel in forensic accounting or any other area of this growing industry. Explore the online MAcc today and find out why OHIO’s online MAcc made Fortune’s 2024 list of Top 10 Best Online Master’s in Accounting Programs.8
Sources
- Hayes, Adam. “Forensic Accounting: What It Is, How It’s Used.” June 13, 2024. Investopedia. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from .
- O*NET OnLine. “Ohio Wages: Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts.” Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Special Agent: Forge Your Path.” FBI Jobs. Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook. “Accountants and Auditors.” April 17, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- Payscale. “Average Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Salary.” Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- O*NET OnLine. “Ohio Wages: Financial Examiners.” Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- O*NET OnLine. “Ohio Employment Trends: Financial Examiners.” Retrieved July 30, 2024, from .
- Fortune Education. "Best Online Master's in Accounting Programs for 2024." Retrieved August 1, 2024, from .
Infographic Transcript
On a dark-green background, the responsibilities of a forensic accountant are represented in a graphic and listed in text.
- Explain complex financial records
- Clarify financial regulations
- Estimate the financial damage of a crime
- Provide written statements regarding their expert opinions
- Respond to questions from a judge and/or lawyers
- Summarize their investigative findings
- Testify in court
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