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ABSTRACT
Forensic accountants play an extremely important role in preventing and detecting fraud, and demand for this profession has increased after a number of corporate scandals (such as Enron, WorldCom, Satyam etc.) that have raised public awareness on the issue of fraud and fraudulent financial reporting. The profession of forensic accountant is an interdisciplinary profession where one of the primary tasks is fraud prevention and detection. However, persons engaged in this area can provide a full range of other services, such as assessing the economic value of assets and liabilities, detecting tax irregularities, expert witnessing in court proceedings, preventing corruption and similar services. In the context of providing complex services in the area of forensic accounting, besides accounting and auditing skills, knowledge of law and investigative techniques is also required. Along with a full range of knowledge and skills that persons engaged in financial and accounting forensics should possess, they should also have certain experience and continuously improve their knowledge and skills. In this paper, authors present the results of research conducted on a sample of 38 experts about the knowledge and skills of forensic accountants in the Republic of Croatia. Analysis of required knowledge and skills of forensic accountants was conducted through "A survey about the occupational standard" in the context of development of occupational standard for the profession of forensic accountant at the University Department of Forensic Sciences in the period from July till September 2016.
Keywords: frauds, forensic accountant, skills and competencies
1.INTRODUCTION
Accounting scandals such as Enron, WorldCom and many others, as well as the collapse of Arthur Andersen, one of the largest audit companies, have raised public awareness on fraud and fraudulent financial reporting, and have spurred the development of a new branch of accounting - forensic accounting. Today, forensic accounting has a major role in preventing and detecting frauds and it represents one of the fastest growing areas within the accounting profession since. Almost in all areas of business there is a need for services of these experts. The area of forensic accounting and the profession of forensic accountant are interdisciplinary areas where accounting and auditing skills are required as well as knowledge of law and investigative techniques. Profession of forensic accountant is, in global terms, a relatively...