A CPA (certified practicing accountant) will often specialise in a few aspects of accountancy, such as taxation, insolvency, financial reporting and so forth.

Forensic accounting is one specialization typically involving litigation, disputes or fraud. (This is my specialism.) It requires detailed investigation that can extend into IT data analysis, paper audit trails, surveillance, interviewing and then using that information to build a case either for management action or legal action.

I have written a number of articles which seek to explain the kinds of techniques a forensic accountant might adopt. Here are a couple of those which may assist your research (the full text of the article is available in each case):

Article Payroll internal audit: On the hunt for payroll fraud

Article Benford's Law to the rescue: extending the logarithmic analy...

Article Seeing double: blitzing duplicate invoice payments using Exc...

thanks a lot Dear Christopher C Kelly for your answer.

I agree with Chris Kelly.

Also, I did a review on forensic accounting and fraud. You might want to take a look at the article on my profile.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. In the most of the country, the CPA must have a license to open a firm that provide accounting services to the public.

Forensic Accountants combine their accounting knowledge with investigative skills. Forensic Accountants may be employed by public accounting firms’ forensic accounting divisions, by firms specializing in risk consulting and forensic accounting services, or by lawyers, law enforcement agencies, insurance companies, government organizations, or financial institutions.

Job responsibilities of a forensic accountant include:

• Analyzing financial documents
• Investigating allegations of financial fraud by conducting interviews, recording statements, and compiling evidence
• Assisting law enforcement in the detection and confiscation of financial assets resulting from a criminal act such as hidden assets or tax fraud
• Using knowledge of accounting principles and analysis to prepare for civil or criminal litigation

An accountants who have earned a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) professional credential will call Fraud examiners. In order to achieve this certification, fraud examiners must demonstrate expertise in the areas of fraud detection, prevention, and deterrence; they have been specially trained to spot suspicious financial activity that may indicate fraud or fraud risk. Fraud examiners must have extensive knowledge of accounting principles, financial markets, financial data analysis, and government regulations pertaining to their chosen industry

May forensic accountants are CPAs and Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE) although technically neither is required to call yourself a forensic accountant or do forensic accounting work. However, to be a credible expert witness in a court of law you would probably want to be at least a CPA if not both a CPA and CFE.

In New Zealand, typically, a CPA has to do few papers and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, to then specialised into Forensic related expertise. A CPA can also CFE exam, if eligible and if passed, to be a CFE, Certified Fraud Examiner.

thank you Radiah Othman

thank you Haslinah Muhamad

Forensic accounting uses accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to run investigations for any case of theft and fraud.

A CPA (certified public accountant) is a trusted financial adviser who has passed the rigorous CPA Exam and met work experience requirements before being licensed.