How/Why We Do Forensic Accounting

Maria Montie and I attended the 2010 AICPA National Forensic Accounting Conference in Boston this past weekend as part of our ongoing education for our damages and forensic services division of ShindelRock.  For everyone who doesn’t know what this part of our business is, we provide expert witness services to lawyers, and their clients, to assist them in their financial analysis needs.  This can deal with a whole host of different services, but the most common usually fall under two types.  In criminal cases we are usually involved in the unraveling of fraud schemes and tallying the financial damages.  For civil cases we are brought to provide an opinion on the total amount of damages the plaintiff/defendant have suffered.  An simple example would be: 

  • A has a contract with B. 
  • B doesn’t live up to its side of the contract, this is called a “breach of contract”
  • As a result A may suffer damages (lost profits, increased costs, etc)

We assist either side in figuring out how much damage, if any, “A” has suffered.  This type of work combines our various backgrounds in tax and financial accounting (among other expertise), to determine damages (or the lack thereof).  This is an aspect of what we do where our sophisticated knowledge of important areas of finance really come together and allow us to offer services not found in most firms our size.

Side Comment

I always enjoy going to these seminars because they seem to reinvigorate me in not only the forensic side of what we do, but in all aspects of how we can service our clients.  It reconfirms the fact that we can help others with problems they have.  Whether it is helping them figure out how much they lost, or helping them start up their business, we are fundamentally in the business of helping people solve their problems, and that is why I get so much satisfaction out of what I do.

If we can help you out with any problems you may have please contact us.