Forensic Accounting in Pakistan

Forensic Accounting




Contents

1 Concept of Forensic Accounting 3
1.1 What is Forensic Accounting? 3
1.2 The Forensic Accountants 5
1.3 Methodology of Forensic Accounting 6
2 History of Forensic Accounting 7
3 Current Status of Forensic Accounting 9
4 Issues and Challenges in the Field of Forensic Accounting 11
5 Forensic Accounting in Pakistan 12
6 Reference Links 14

Concept of Forensic Accounting

What is Forensic Accounting?

Forensic accounting is the specialty practice area of accountancy that describes engagements that result from actual or anticipated disputes or litigation.
"Forensic" means "suitable for use in a court of law", and it is to that standard and potential outcome that forensic accountants generally have to work.
Forensic accountants, also referred to as forensic auditors or investigative auditors, often have to give expert evidence at the eventual trial.
Since all professional accountants operate within a commercial legal environment, all professional accountants are, in a sense, forensic accountants. What distinguishes forensic accounting in common parlance, however, are the engagements.
That is, when a professional accountant accepts an engagement where they anticipate that their finding or analysis may be subject to adversarial or judicial scrutiny or administrative review, the professional accountant seeks a level of evidentiary detail and analytical precision which will be sustainable within the legal framework of such scrutiny or review. The courts or appropriate administrative bodies are the ultimate arbiters of what accounting facts are.
Hence, Forensic accounting is accounting that is suitable for legal review, offering the highest level of assurance, and including the now generally accepted connotation of having been arrived at in a scientific fashion. That is, forensic accounting is sufficiently thorough and complete so that an accountant, in his/her considered independent... [continues]

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