Perhaps my favorite session at yesterday's Fraud & Forensic Accounting Conference hosted by the Forensic and Valuation Services Section of the Georgia Society of CPAs, was the one presented by James F. Hart, MBA, CPA/ABV/CFF, CIRA, CFE. Entitled, "Unique Opportunities for Forensic CPAs: Receiver, Examiner, Trustee, Auditor, Special Master, Referee, Liquidation Agent...", his talk emphasized that forensic accountants are oftentimes a perfect fit for a variety of interesting, challenging projects/assignments that don't fit neatly into the more traditional (i.e. family law, economic damages, business valuation, litigation support, etc) forensics engagements. For example:
Examples of Court-Appointed Assignments:
- Auditor
- Bankruptcy Plan Administrator
- Consultant
- Examiner
- Monitor
- Receiver
- Special Master or Referee
- Trustee
- Advisor
- Arbitrator
- Consultant
- Liquidating Agent
- Mediator
- Chief Restructuring Officer
- Neutral
- Referee
- Trustee of Trust
Why should CPAs consider these types of non-traditional projects? According to Mr Hart,
- Generally, CPAs with appropriate forensic training and experience can make good candidates for such assignments because:
- They understand business
- They have the ability to understand and use financial information
- They can understand what is happening in a particular business, especially one under stress
- They are familiar with business disputes
- They have experience in fraud and financial investigations
- They aren't afraid to "roll up their sleeves and dig in"
- Professional independence allows them to see the big picture in an objective manner
- Forensic CPAs regularly work with attorneys and in some cases, courts
- They can be beneficial in overlapping areas (Such as a case involving a contentious bankruptcy with intellectual property of unknown value, allegations of fraud and self-dealing, and the need to determine whether the business was solvent on certain dates)
-
CPAs are often viewed as valuable business and financial advisors. These services make further use of this attribute, though sometimes in ways not associated with the practice of a traditional CPA.
-
Ties in with the continuing trend in ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution). Forensic CPAs can assist with a faster resolution of overall matters of specific issues/sub-issues, and financial neutral CPAs can facilitate mediation and dispute settlement, including conflicting reports from opposing experts. The introduction of an independent CPA, who understands numbers, can cause key issues to be viewed differently, in some cases, drastically different. Remember, everyone else in a case, other than the court, is an advocate of one side or the other. Utilizing an objective CPA injects a note of neutrality into an advocate-laden process.
Mr. Hart provided the following listing of website links for CPAs interested in pursuing work in these interesting assignments:
Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors
Turnaround Management Association
Posted by: |