Fraud

Forensic Accounting in New Zealand: Exploring the gap between education and practice.

Jennette Boys
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Abstract

‘Accounting practice has always been concerned with fraud’ (Lehman & Okcabol, 2005)

The global business environment is rapidly changing and this has resulted in evolutionary changes in the skills accountants need to meet the requirements of their clients so they can continue to add value to their businesses. The role of the accountant has altered, they are no longer required to be just scorekeepers, accountants now need specialised skills to meet their clients’ changing needs. Accountants can work in expert areas such as forensic accounting and will need specialist technical skills in this area. Over the last decade the demand for forensic accountants has rose dramatically (de Lorenzo, 1993), and has continued to grow at a rapid rate into the 21st Century.

As a response to the changes in the business environment, accounting educators have been asked to change the content and curriculum and methods of delivery in accounting education. It was considered that accounting education had not kept pace with the constant changes within the business arena (Accounting Education Exchange Commission (AECC), 1990; AAA, 1986; Albrecht and Sack, 2000). What has been highlighted is that the accounting profession must look to the future requirements of organisations, and meet these requirements with professionals that have been educated in a way that serves the needs of organisations and society. In order to meet this, accounting educators have focused on developing an emphasis on broad generic business skills rather than specific technical skills, in order to provide transferable skills that will suit a variety of accounting roles required in business (Albrecht and Sack, 2000). In New Zealand, NZICA responded to these calls by significantly changing its admissions policy including a

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