United Arab Emirates
A forensic audit is an examination and evaluation of a firm’s or individual’s financial records to derive evidence that can be used in a legal proceeding or litigation or to evidence issues such as frauds due to misappropriation of assets, fraud.
Forensic auditing combines investigative techniques along with an understanding of accounting principles to determine if there are suspicious practices hiding beneath company or individual financial records and statements. Forensic auditors are trained to present their findings that concern fraud, embezzlement, or financial disputes.
While many associated auditing with finding flaws, it can be just as important to strengthen a company’s already good business practices.
A forensic audit can be initiated for a number of reasons – including in response to the presence of ‘red flags’ identified in a normal audit of a sector, budgetary body or project and or due to allegations of fraud or corruption arising in a sector. Forensic audits are normally relate directly to an issue defined by the audit client. This issue may involve employee fraud or a dispute with a vendor or customer. The auditor’s report must meet the standards for presentation prescribed.
Why is a forensic audit conducted?
Some of the common causes of forensic audit investigations are as below:
Corruption
In a Forensic Audit, while investigating fraud, an auditor would look out for:
Conflicts of
interest –When fraudster uses his/her influence for personal gains detrimental to the company. For
example, if a manager allows and approves inaccurate expenses of an employee with whom he has personal
relations. Even though the manager is not directly financially benefited from this approval, he/she is
deemed likely to receive personal benefits after making such inappropriate approvals.
Bribery –
As the name suggests, offering money to get things done or influence a situation in one’s favor is
bribery.
Asset Misappropriation
This is the most common and prevalent form of fraud. Misappropriation of cash, raising fake invoices, payments made to non-existing suppliers or employees, misuse of assets, or theft of Inventory are a few examples of such asset misappropriation.
Financial statement fraud
Companies get into this type of fraud to try to show the company’s financial performance as better than what it actually is. The goal of presenting fraudulent numbers may be to improve liquidity, ensure top management continue receiving bonuses, or to deal with pressure for market performance.
Some examples of the form that financial statement fraud takes are the intentional forgery of accounting records, omitting transactions – either revenue or expenses, non-disclosure of relevant details from the financial statements, or not applying the requisite financial reporting standards.
During the forensic audit, we perform comprehensive audit techniques such as collecting logical flow of evidence, performing substantive techniques such as doing reconciliations, purpose review, performing analytical procedures and Computer-assisted audit techniques
