Life as a Forensic Accountant

By Anne Eberhardt

Business fraud is on the rise. To ferret out fraud, a very special cadre of investigators is often at work behind the scenes, applying detailed due diligence and analysis to not just track the money trail and scrutinize small fiscal details, but to correctly piece together and interpret the big picture.

I am a forensic accountant, one of the financial detectives of the business world. Often called upon to decode the meaning found in large bodies of financial records and data sets, I apply sound scientific knowledge to look beyond the numbers in order to solve our clients’ legal problems. What separates me from my accounting colleagues is that when I conduct audits, I actively look for fraud.

Forensic accounting is not for the inflexible or faint of heart. For instance, I have performed an investigation from a tent in northern Pakistan; valued some of the most difficult financial instruments in the history of capitalism; and conducted a lengthy Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation in Latin America. Closer to home, I have been involved in untangling many of the accounting scandals of the past 15 years and in working through their aftermath, often on projects associated with some of the largest business enterprises on earth.

The common thread woven through every project I tackle is our clients’ need for an interpreter – someone who can decode the meaning found in large bodies of financial records and data sets. As a forensic accountant, the most satisfying part of my job is finding a way to interpret these frequently complex, dense, and arcane records and to translate what they contain in a way that conveys useful information to our clients.

Aside from my desire to make order out of what can often be chaos, I am particularly interested in history, culture and language, and this work often puts me in front row seats to observe history in the making. For example, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, I was invited to perform a review of the financial records of several democracy-promoting organizations working under authoritarian regimes in certain Central European countries. Later, I was part of an effort in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq to provide training to government officials for conducting budget execution activities, in accordance with global standards of transparency and accountability.

While my day-to-day can be exceptionally intense and interesting, I still maintain a polished degree of impartiality. After all, my work means that reputations of individuals, companies and governments are at stake, and it is imperative that I remain objective and discreet and use my skill to serve justice by making accurate determination of the facts involved.

Anne Eberhardt is a Senior Director in the firm’s Valuation and Litigation Consulting practice.