Jenna Green-Systems Staff

So, you’re thinking about pursuing a career in accounting, but you can’t seem to decide on an area that’s right for you. In between class you find yourself watching endless hours of CSI and are always the one to notice if someone is looking up and to the left when telling an outlandish story. Hmmm, are you starting to put the pieces together? Why not consider Forensic Accounting? At the height of today’s fickle economy, white-collar crime is on the rise and naturally, forensic accounting is one field that is expected to grow. A recent article “Fraud Fighters: Forensic accountants on front line in the fight against fraud” by Anya Sostek addressed the growing need for professionals in this field.

“Forensic Accounting is a growing subset of the accounting field that focuses on uncovering financial fraud.” Many colleges and universities have boarded the bandwagon and added these specialty classes to their curriculum. Bob Kollar, director of the master of accountancy programs at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, notes that “we really have a more heightened sense of accountability now than we did 10 years ago, a greater sense that fraud can occur.” This same awareness has drawn students to the field. “They want to be fraud fighters,” Kollar said. “It’s interesting to follow the trail, detect what’s happened and help convict someone.” Now, there still is and will always be the technical side of accounting, but “much of the work that fraud accountants do really does resemble that of television crime show investigations.” Valerie Williams, a teacher at Duquesne teaches her classes through mock interviews with employees who have been pilfering money. Williams jokes that the students “think it’s CSI or something. They find out it’s still accounting but it has a Sherlock Holmes aspect about it.” Not only can Forensic accounting be interesting and maybe even fun, but it is also highly in demand; “salaries for forensic accountants can start around $50,000 and more experienced people can earn six figures.” So, what’s not to like? We all remember ENRON. Had there been more students out there eager to pursue a career in forensic accounting, that scandal may have never occurred; but, that’s probably just wishful thinking.

To read Sostek’s entire article visit: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09088/959094-28.stm or for more information on fraud and related issues, check out the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ website: http://www.acfe.com or to register for the annual Fraud and Forensic Accounting conference sponsored by PKM: http://www.pkm.com/fraudconference/information.php.