The Journal of Finance and Accountancy provides a brief article by Linda Bressler from the University of Houston, in which she covers the importance of accounting information systems, the application of electronic data, and the importance of communication skills to convey the Accounting Information Systems (AIS) data effectively.  Financial cases are often times convoluted, leaving a layman ineffective as a jury member without proper elaboration on all the complex aspects. Forensic investigative accountants are the missing tie, in many rights, between the data derived from AIS and the judge and jury understanding the data and implications therein. This article connects to my previous post, titled Is Forensic Accounting Even a Profession?, where it is discussed on the increasing belief of some in the accounting profession of the CPA licensure being excessive and unneeded.  In this article is discussed how forensic accountants need “various specialized auditing techniques” in order to identify fraud indicators. This, again, brings me back to my surprise that some accounting professionals would incite arguments against requiring CPA licensure for forensic accounting, especially if forensic accountants require specialized auditing techniques.

Some issues addressed in the article regarding the use of forensic accountants as expert witnesses are the ability of forensic accountants to establish credibility with the judges and counteracting the “CSI Effect” of the jurors. The “CSI Effect” is an interesting theory which proposes that popular TV crime dramas that “focus on forensic science, may affect the behavior and expectations of jurors in real-life cases.” Often times, accountants are seen as “the number people”, while in this instance they need to be specialized in a variety of business and legal aspects, in addition to understanding the psychology of jurors.

The article provides an example of a forensic audit where investigators, “used spreadsheet software and the use of statistical and database analysis” to facilitate the evaluation of the AIS systems to examine the cash flow reporting of HealthSouth Corporation. Unfortunately, the author fails to provide details of the case more extensively on how forensic accountants effectively utilized the AIS data analysis findings when communicating that information to a judge and jury in persuasive manner. The verdict of the case is identified as HealthSouth being charged with fraudulent financial reporting, primarily with inaccurate revenue and expenses and improperly accounting for business combination activities. It would have been helpful for the reader to have a more in-depth analysis of the article, especially since it is the only case example throughout the entire article. The author seems to have written an entire literature review article, without every truly introducing new ideas into the discussion. The flow of the argument is steady enough for the article to be easily grasped by those within the accounting profession, but information that would be applicable to non-accounting professions is also available in an easily understandable format.

The propose the need for future research into the perceptions of fraud attorneys and judges on how to make AIS forensic evidence more convincible, as well as identifying needed skill developments for forensic accountants. Similar to my first post, Forensic Accounting? What is it? And How to be an Effective Forensic Accountant, where the post focused on research conducted to identify perceptions of forensic accountants from attorneys, I agree with Bressler in the importance to expand upon that to the perception of judges.

Bressler, Linda. “The Role of Forensic Accountants in Fraud Investigations: Importance of Attorney and Judge’s Perceptions.” Journal of Finance and Accountancy 9 (2012): n. pag. Print.