#forensic accounting

[pratchettquotes]

Hour after hour, it went on, with a patience that at first terrified and then bored. It was the warfare of clerks, and it harried the enemy through many columns and files. Moist could read words that weren't there, but the clerks found the numbers that weren't there, or were there twice, or were there but going the wrong way. They didn't hurry. Peel away the lies, and the truth would emerge, naked and ashamed and with nowhere else to hide.

Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Chapter One of “Picks and Shovels” (Part 1)

Picks and Shovels is a new, standalone technothriller starring Marty Hench, my two-fisted, hard-fighting, tech-scam-busting forensic accountant. You can pre-order it on my latest Kickstarter, which features a brilliant audiobook read by Wil Wheaton.

My next novel is Picks and Shovels, out next month. It's tells the origin story of Martin Hench, my hard-charging, scambusting, high-tech forensic accountant, in a 1980s battle over the soul of a PC company:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels

I'm currently running a Kickstarter to pre-sell the book in every format: hardcover, DRM-free ebook, and an independently produced, fabulous DRM-free audiobook read by Wil Wheaton, who just nailed the delivery:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/picks-and-shovels-marty-hench-at-the-dawn-of-enshittification

Picks and Shovels opens with a long prologue that recounts Marty's misadventures as a failing computer science student at MIT, his love-affair with computers, and his first disastrous startup venture. It ends with him decamping to Silicon Valley with his roommate Art, a brilliant programmer, to seek their fortune.

Chapter one opens with Marty's first job, working for a weird PC company (there were so many weird PC companies back then!). I've posted Wil's audio reading of chapter one as a teaser for the Kickstarter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGXz1mkAd2Q

(Here it is as an MP3 at the Internet Archive:)

https://ia600607.us.archive.org/5/items/picks-and-shovels-promo/audio.mp3

The audio is great, but I thought I'd also serialize the text of Chapter One here, in five or six chunks. If you enjoy this and want to pre-order the book, please consider backing the Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/picks-and-shovels-marty-hench-at-the-dawn-of-enshittification

Chapter One

Fidelity Computing was the most colorful PC company in Silicon Valley.

A Catholic priest, a Mormon bishop, and an Orthodox rabbi walk into a technology gold rush and start a computer company. The fact that it sounded like the setup for a nerdy joke about the mid-1980s was fantastic for their bottom line. Everyone who heard their story loved it.

As juicy as the story of Fidelity Computing was, they flew under most people’s radar for years, even as they built a wildly profitable technology empire through direct sales through faith groups. The first time most of us heard of them was in 1983, when Byte ran its cover story on Fidelity Computing, unearthing a parallel universe of technology that had grown up while no one was looking.

At first, I thought maybe they were doing something similar to Apple’s new Macintosh: like Apple, they made PCs (the Wise PC), an operating system (Wise DOS), and a whole line of monitors, disk drives, printers, and software.

Like the Mac, none of these things worked with anything else—you needed to buy everything from floppy disks to printer cables specially from them, because nothing anyone else made would work with their system.

And like the Mac, they sold mostly through word of mouth. The big difference was that Mac users were proud to call themselves a cult, while Fidelity Computing’s customers were literally a religion.

Long after Fidelity had been called to the Great Beyond, its most loyal customers gave it an afterlife, nursing their computers along, until the parts and supplies ran out. They’d have kept going even then, if there’d been any way to unlock their machines and use the same stuff the rest of the computing world relied on. But that wasn’t something Fidelity Computing would permit, even from beyond the grave.

I was summoned to Fidelity headquarters—in unfashionable Colma, far from the white-hot start-ups of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and, of course, Cupertino—by a friend of Art’s. Art had a lot more friends than me. I was a skipping stone, working as the part-time bookkeeper/accountant/CFO for half a dozen companies and never spending more than one or two days in the same office.

Art was hardly more stable than me—he switched start-ups all the time, working for as little as two months (and never for more than a year) before moving on. His bosses knew what they were getting: you hired Art Hellman to blaze into your company, take stock of your product plan, root out and correct all of its weak points, build core code libraries, and then move on. He was good enough and sufficiently in demand to command the right to behave this way, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. My view was, it was an extended celebration of his liberation from the legal villainy of Nick Cassidy III: having narrowly escaped a cage, he was determined never to be locked up again.

Art’s “engagements”—as he called them—earned him the respect and camaraderie of half the programmers and hardware engineers in the Valley. This, in spite of the fact that he was a public and ardent member of the Lavender Panthers, wore the badge on his lapel, went to the marches, and brought his boyfriend to all the places where his straight colleagues brought their girlfriends.

He’d come out to me less than a week after I arrived by the simple expedient of introducing the guy he was watching TV with in our living room as Lewis, his boyfriend. Lewis was a Chinese guy about our age, and his wardrobe—plain white tee, tight blue jeans, loafers—matched the new look Art had adopted since leaving Boston. Lewis had a neat, short haircut that matched Art’s new haircut, too.

To call the Art I’d known in Cambridge a slob would be an insult to the natty, fashion-conscious modern slob. He’d favored old band T-shirts with fraying armpit seams, too-big jeans that were either always sliding off his skinny hips or pulled up halfway to his nipples. In the summer, his sneakers had holes in the toes. In the winter, his boots were road-salt-crusted crystalline eruptions. His red curls were too chaotic for a white-boy ’fro and were more of a heap, and he often went days without shaving.

There were members of the Newbury Street Irregulars who were bigger slobs than Art, but they smelled. Art washed, but otherwise, he looked like a homeless person (or a hacker). His transformation to a neatly dressed, clean-shaven fellow with a twenty-five-dollar haircut that he actually used some sort of hairspray on was remarkable. I’d assumed it was about his new life as a grown-up living far from home and doing a real job. It turned out that wasn’t the reason at all.

“Oh,” I said. “That makes a lot of sense.” I shook Lewis’s hand. He laughed. I checked Art. He was playing it cool, but I could tell he was nervous. I remembered Lucille and how she listened, and what it felt like to be heard. I thought about Art, and the things he’d never been able to tell me.

There’d been a woman in the Irregulars who there were rumors about, and there were a pair of guys one floor down in Art’s building who held hands in the elevator, but as far as I knew up until that moment, I hadn’t really ever been introduced to a homosexual person. I didn’t know how I felt about it, but I did know how I wanted to feel about it.

So Art didn’t just get to know all kinds of geeks from his whistle-stop tour of Silicon Valley’s hottest new tech ventures. He was also plugged into this other network of people from the Lavender Panthers, and their boyfriends and girlfriends, and the people he knew from bars and clubs. He and Lewis lasted for a couple of months, and then there were a string of weekends where there was a new guy at the breakfast table, and then he settled down again for a while with Artemis, and then he hit a long dry spell.

I commiserated. I’d been having a dry spell for nearly the whole two years I’d been in California. The closest I came to romance was exchanging a letter with Lucille every couple of weeks—she was a fine pen pal, but that wasn’t really a substitute for a living, breathing woman in my life.

Art threw himself into his volunteer work, and he was only half joking when he said he did it to meet a better class of boys than you got at a club. Sometimes, there’d be a committee meeting in our living room and I’d hear about the congressional committee hearing on the “gay plague” and the new wave of especially vicious attacks. It was pretty much the only time I heard about that stuff—no one I worked with ever brought it up, unless it was to make a terrible joke.

It was Murf, one of the guys from those meetings, who told me that Fidelity Computing was looking for an accountant for a special project. He had stayed after the meeting and he and Art made a pot of coffee and sat down in front of Art’s Apple clone, a Franklin Ace 1200 that he’d scored six months ahead of its official release. After opening the lid to show Murf the interior, Art fired it up and put it through its paces.

I hovered over his shoulder, watching. I’d had a couple of chances to play with the 1200, and I wanted one more than anything in the world except for a girlfriend.

“Marty,” Art said, “Murf was telling me about a job I thought you might be good for.”

The Ace 1200 would have a list price of $2,200. I pulled up a chair.

Fidelity Computing’s business offices were attached to their warehouse, right next to their factory. It took up half of a business park in Colma, and I had to circle it twice to find a parking spot. I was five minutes late and flustered when I presented myself to the receptionist, a blond woman with a ten – years – out – of – date haircut and a modest cardigan over a sensible white shirt buttoned to the collar, ring on her finger.

“Hello,” I said. “I’m Marty Hench. I—uh—I’ve got a meeting with the Reverend Sirs.” That was what the executive assistant I’d spoken to on the phone had called them. It sounded weird when he said it. It sounded weirder when I said it.

The receptionist gave me a smile that only went as far as her lips. “Please have a seat,” she said. There were only three chairs in the little reception area, vinyl office chairs with worn wooden armrests. There weren’t any magazines, just glossy catalogs featuring the latest Fidelity Computing systems, accessories, consumables, and software. I browsed one, marveling at the parallel universe of computers in the strange, mauve color that denoted all Fidelity equipment, including the boxes, packaging, and, now that I was attuned to it, the accents and carpet in the small lobby. A side door opened and a young, efficient man in a kippah and wire-rim glasses called for me: “Mr. Hench?” I closed the catalog and returned it to the pile and stood. As I went to shake his hand, I realized that something had been nagging me about the catalog—there were no prices.

“I’m Shlomo,” the man said. “We spoke on the phone. Thank you for coming down. The Reverend Sirs are ready to see you now.”

He wore plain black slacks, hard black shiny shoes, and a white shirt with prayer-shawl tassels poking out of its tails. I followed him through a vast room filled with chest-high Steelcase cubicles finished in yellowing, chipped wood veneer, every scratch pitilessly lit by harsh overhead fluorescents. Most of the workers at the cubicles were women with headsets, speaking in hushed tones. The tops of their heads marked the interfaith delineators: a block of Orthodox headscarves, then a block of nuns’ black and white scarves (I learned to call them “veils” later), then the Mormons’ carefully coiffed, mostly blond dos.

“This way,” Shlomo said, passing through another door and into executive row. The mauve carpets were newer, the nap all swept in one direction. The walls were lined with framed certificates of appreciation, letters from religious and public officials (apparently, the church and state were not separate within the walls of Fidelity Computing), photos of groups of progressively larger groups of people ranked before progressively larger offices—the company history.

We walked all the way to the end of the hall, past closed doors with nameplates, to a corner conference room with a glass wall down one side, showing a partial view of a truck-loading dock behind half-closed vertical blinds. Seated at intervals around a large conference table were the Reverend Sirs themselves, each with his own yellow pad, pencil, and coffee cup.

Shlomo announced me: “Reverend Sirs, this is Marty Hench. Mr. Hench, these are Rabbi Yisrael Finkel, Bishop Leonard Clarke, and Father Marek Tarnowski.” He backed out of the door, leaving me standing, unsure if I should circle the table shaking hands, or take a seat, or—

“Please, sit,” Rabbi Finkel said. He was fiftyish, round-faced and bear-shaped with graying sidelocks and beard and a black suit and tie. His eyes were sharp behind horn-rimmed glasses. He gestured to a chair at the foot of the table.

I sat, then rose a little to undo the button of my sport coat. I hadn’t worn it since my second job interview, when I realized it was making the interviewers uncomfortable. It certainly made me uncomfortable. I fished out the little steno pad and stick pen I’d brought with me.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Hench.” The rabbi had an orator’s voice, that big chest of his serving as a resonating chamber like a double bass.

“Of course,” I said. “Thanks for inviting me. It’s a fascinating company you have here.”

Bishop Clarke smiled at that. He was the best dressed of the three, in a well-cut business suit, his hair short, neat, side-parted. His smile was very white, and very wide. He was the youngest of the three—in his late thirties, I’d guess. “Thank you,” he said. “We know we’re very different from the other computer companies, and we like it that way. We like to think that we see something in computers—a potential—that other people have missed.”

Father Tarnowski scowled. He was cadaverously tall and thin, with the usual dog collar and jacket, and a heavy gold class ring. His half-rim glasses flashed. He was the oldest, maybe sixty, and had a sour look that I took for habitual. “He doesn’t want the press packet, Leonard,” he said. “Let’s get to the point.” He had a broad Chicago accent like a tough-guy gangster in The Untouchables.

Bishop Clarke’s smile blinked off and on for an instant and I was overcome with the sudden knowledge that these two men did not like each other at all, and that there was some kind of long-running argument simmering beneath the surface. “Thank you, Marek, of course. Mr. Hench’s time is valuable.” Father Tarnowski snorted softly at that and the bishop pretended he didn’t hear it, but I saw Rabbi Finkel grimace at his yellow pad.

“What can I help you Reverend Sirs with today?” Reverend Sirs came more easily now, didn’t feel ridiculous at all. The three of them gave the impression of being a quarter inch away from going for each other’s throats, and the formality was a way to keep tensions at a distance.

“We need a certain kind of accountant,” the rabbi said. He’d dated the top of his yellow pad and then circled the date. “A kind of accountant who understands the computer business. Who understands computers, on a technical level. It’s hard to find an accountant like that, believe it or not, even in Silicon Valley.” I didn’t point out that Colma wasn’t in Silicon Valley.

“Well,” I said, carefully. “I think I fit that bill. I’ve only got an associate’s degree in accounting, but I’m a kind of floating CFO for half a dozen companies and I’ve been doing night classes at UCSF Extension to get my bachelor’s. I did a year at MIT and built my own computer a few years back. I program pretty well in BASIC and Pascal and I’ve got a little C, and I’m a pretty darned good debugger, if I do say so myself.”

Bishop Clarke gave a small but audible sigh of relief. “You do indeed sound perfect, and I’m told that Shlomo spoke to your references and they were very enthusiastic about your diligence and . . . discretion.”

I’d given Shlomo a list of four clients I’d done extensive work with, but I hadn’t had “discretion” in mind when I selected them. It’s true that doing a company’s accounts made me privy to some sensitive information—like when two employees with the same job were getting paid very different salaries—but I got the feeling that wasn’t the kind of “discretion” the bishop had in mind.

“I’m pretty good at minding my own business,” I said, and then, “even when I’m being paid to mind someone else’s.” I liked that line, and made a mental note about it. Maybe someday I’d put it on my letterhead. Martin Hench: Confidential CPA.

The bishop favored me with a chuckle. The rabbi nodded thoughtfully. The priest scowled.

“That’s very good,” the bishop said. “What we’d like to discuss today is of a very sensitive nature, and I’m sure you’ll understand if we would like more than your good word to rely on.” He lifted his yellow pad, revealing a single page, grainily photocopied, and slid it over the table to me. “That’s our standard nondisclosure agreement,” he said. He slid a pen along to go with it.

I didn’t say anything. I’d signed a few NDAs, but only after I’d taken a contract. This was something different. I squinted at the page, which was a second- or third-generation copy and blurry in places. I started to read it. The bishop made a disgusted noise. I pretended I didn’t hear him.

I crossed out a few clauses and carefully lettered in an amendment. I initialed the changes and slid the paper back across the table to the bishop, and found the smile was gone from his face. All three of them were now giving me stern looks, wrath-of-God looks, the kind of looks that would make a twenty-one-year-old kid like me very nervous indeed. I felt the nerves rise and firmly pushed them down.

“Mr. Hench,” the bishop said, his tone low and serious, “is there some kind of problem?”

It pissed me off. I’d driven all the way to for-chrissakes Colma and these three weirdo God-botherers had ambushed me with their everything – and – the – kitchen – sink contract. I had plenty of work, and I didn’t need theirs, especially not if this was the way they wanted to deal. This had suddenly become a negotiation, and my old man had always told me the best negotiating position was a willingness to get up from the table. I was going to win this negotiation, one way or another.

“No problem,” I said.

“And yet you appear to have made alterations to our standard agreement.”

“I did,” I said. That’s not a problem for me, I didn’t say.

He gave me more of that stern eyeball-ray stuff. I let my negotiating leverage repel it. “Mr. Hench, our standard agreement can only be altered after review by our general counsel.”

“That sounds like a prudent policy,” I said, and met his stare.

He clucked his tongue. “I can get a fresh one,” he said. “This one is no good.”

I cocked my head. “I think it’d be better to get your general counsel, wouldn’t it?”

The three of them glared at me. I found I was enjoying myself. What’s more, I thought Rabbi Finkel might be suppressing a little smile, though the beard made it hard to tell.

“Let me see it,” he said, holding his hand out.

Bishop Clarke gave a minute shake of his head. The rabbi half rose, reached across the table, and slid it over to himself, holding it at arm’s length and adjusting his glasses. He picked up his pen and initialed next to my changes.

“Those should be fine,” he said, and slid it back to me. “Sign, please.”

“Yisrael,” Bishop Clarke said, an edge in his voice, “changes to the standard agreements need to be reviewed—”

“By our general counsel,” the rabbi finished, waving a dismissive gesture at him. “I know, I know. But these are fine. We should probably make the same changes to all our agreements. Meanwhile, we’ve all now had a demonstration that Mr. Hench is the kind of person who takes his promises seriously. Would you rather have someone who doesn’t read and signs his life away, or someone who makes sure he knows what he’s signing and agrees with it?”

Bishop Clarke’s smile came back, strained at the corners. “That’s an excellent point, Rabbi. Thank you for helping me understand your reasoning.” He collected the now-signed contract from me and tucked it back under his yellow pad.

“Now,” he said, “we can get down to the reason we asked you here today.”

Check out my Kickstarter to pre-order copies of my next novel, Picks and Shovels!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/09/the-reverend-sirs/#fidelity-computing/

[integrityonesolutions]

Forensic Accounting Services

Uncover hidden financial risks with Integrity One Solutions. We excel in investigations, finance, and regulations. So, we provide precise, tailored forensic accounting services. We help organizations protect their legal and reputational integrity with discretion and excellence. Contact us today to learn more.

[forensicaccountingservices]

Founded in Los Angeles in 1994, Engel & Engel LLP is a leading forensic accounting and advisory firm serving clients across California and nationwide.

With over 35 years of expertise, the firm specializes in supporting private practice law firms and in-house counsel in complex business litigation. Services include fraud investigations, economic damages, business valuation, bankruptcy, IP disputes, employment, and real estate litigation, and more.

Renowned for meticulous analysis, strategic insights, and persuasive courtroom testimony, Engel & Engel is trusted to deliver results that withstand the highest scrutiny.

Website: https://engelandengel.com/forensic-accounting/

[minnaah]

The Role of Accounting Firms in Abu Dhabi in Supporting Startups and SMEs

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, has become a vibrant hub for startups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With its strategic location, supportive government policies, and growing investment landscape, the city offers numerous opportunities for new businesses. However, navigating the complexities of finance, compliance, and taxation can be daunting for entrepreneurs. This is where Accounting firms in Abu Dhabi play a crucial role. Let’s explore how these firms support startups and SMEs in their journey to success.

1. Providing Financial Guidance

One of the primary roles of accounting firms is to provide financial guidance to startups and SMEs. These firms help entrepreneurs understand their financial health by offering insights into cash flow management, budgeting, and financial forecasting. With accurate financial data, businesses can make informed decisions and plan for future growth.

2. Tax Compliance and Planning

Navigating tax regulations in the UAE can be complex, especially for new businesses. Accounting firms in Abu Dhabi assist startups and SMEs with tax compliance, ensuring they meet all local regulations. They also provide strategic tax planning advice, helping businesses minimize their tax liabilities while remaining compliant with the law. This is particularly important with the introduction of VAT and other tax measures in the UAE.

3. Bookkeeping Services

Maintaining accurate financial records is vital for any business, but startups and SMEs often lack the resources to manage this effectively. Accounting firms offer comprehensive bookkeeping services, which allow business owners to focus on their core operations. Regular bookkeeping helps in tracking expenses, managing invoices, and preparing for audits.

4. Assisting with Business Setup

For startups, the process of setting up a business can be overwhelming. Accounting firms provide valuable assistance in this area, guiding entrepreneurs through the legal and financial requirements of establishing a company in Abu Dhabi. This includes obtaining the necessary licenses, understanding local regulations, and setting up accounting systems.

5. Financial Audits and Reviews

Regular financial audits are essential for businesses seeking investment or loans. Accounting firms conduct audits to ensure the financial statements are accurate and comply with regulations. For startups looking to attract investors, a clean audit can significantly enhance credibility and increase the chances of securing funding.

6. Advisory Services for Growth

As startups and SMEs grow, they face new challenges and opportunities. Accounting firms in Abu Dhabi provide advisory services that help businesses strategize for growth. This includes mergers and acquisitions, market entry strategies, and financial restructuring. Their expertise can be invaluable in navigating these complex decisions.

7. Facilitating Access to Funding

Access to capital is often a challenge for startups and SMEs. Accounting firms can assist in preparing financial projections and business plans that are crucial for securing funding from banks, venture capitalists, or angel investors. Their expertise in financial modeling can make a significant difference in how potential investors perceive a business.

8. Supporting Technology Integration

The rise of financial technology (fintech) has transformed the accounting landscape. Accounting firms in Abu Dhabi are increasingly incorporating technology into their services, helping startups and SMEs implement accounting software and automated solutions. This not only improves efficiency but also enhances the accuracy of financial reporting.

9. Networking and Connections

Many accounting firms have extensive networks that can benefit startups and SMEs. They can connect businesses with other professionals, potential clients, and investors, fostering valuable relationships that can drive growth. These connections are particularly beneficial in a city like Abu Dhabi, where networking can lead to new opportunities.

Conclusion

In a rapidly evolving business environment, the support of accounting firms in Abu Dhabi is invaluable for startups and SMEs. From financial guidance and tax compliance to business setup and growth strategies, these firms play a multifaceted role in helping businesses thrive. By leveraging their expertise, entrepreneurs can focus on what they do best — innovating and growing their businesses — while leaving the complexities of finance and compliance to the professionals. As Abu Dhabi continues to grow as a business hub, the partnership between startups, SMEs, and accounting firms will be essential for sustainable success.

[nazaire-long-island]

How Forensic Accounting Can Help Prevent and Detect Fraud

Fraud is an ever-present threat to all businesses and organizations, no matter their size or industry. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners report shows that organizations lose an estimated 5% of revenue to fraud each year.

Besides, as technology advances, fraudsters are also using more sophisticated and creative methods to deceive organizations. For instance, instead of embezzling large amounts, they now use complex schemes involving financial statement manipulation, falsified documents, and other fraudulent activities. These smart schemes require equally smarter solutions to detect and prevent them, and that’s where forensic accounting consulting firms become unassailable assets for businesses.

Understanding Forensic Accounting

Forensic accounting is a specialized branch of accounting that detects and investigates fraud, embezzlement, and other financial crimes. Unlike traditional accounting, forensic accounting goes a step further by digging into the details to uncover inconsistencies, anomalies, and evidence of wrongdoing.

Forensic accountants work with accounting, auditing, and investigative techniques to ensure that all evidence is gathered and preserved in a way that is admissible in court if necessary.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the role of forensic accounting in detecting and preventing fraud and the benefit of working with one of the top forensic accounting firms in NYC.

How Forensic Accounting Helps Prevent Fraud

Forensic accountants are often the go-to experts for uncovering fraud or investigating fraudulent cases. However, they can also play a big role in stopping fraud before it even starts.

Here’s how:

1. Identifying Weaknesses in Internal Controls

When you hire forensic accounting consulting firms, the first thing they do is evaluate your company’s internal controls, including the processes and procedures that manage financial and accounting information. Forensic accountants can thoroughly review these controls for weaknesses that might allow fraudulent activities to go unnoticed.

It could be a lack of segregation of duties, where one person has control over multiple financial transactions with no supervisor/manager. Or, they can help determine whether you have insufficient monitoring systems in place to detect fraud. Whatever the issues, these experts can recommend improvements to strengthen internal controls and prevent fraud from occurring.

2. Conducting Risk Assessments

Forensic accountants can conduct comprehensive risk assessments, which, in turn, help determine the likelihood of fraud occurring within a company. The process analyzes the company’s financial practices, employee behavior, and industry trends. This is where the greatest risks lie, and knowing this information can help businesses implement targeted mitigation strategies.

Common strategies include:

ü Enhancing employee training

ü Monitoring high-risk areas

ü Investing in more technologically rich systems

3. Developing Anti-Fraud Policies and Procedures

A strong anti-fraud plan is a must-have for businesses if they really want to keep their organizations safe. Forensic accountants can help set clear guidelines on how to handle suspected fraud, what actions to take to investigate, and how to report results. These directions show how to handle fraud and warn fraudsters that the company takes it seriously and has steps to stop it.

4. Educating Employees and Management

Education is a powerful way to stop fraud. Forensic accountants can teach employees and managers how to spot fraud, report suspicious actions, and follow the company’s rules to prevent fraud. This culture of awareness makes employees the first line of defense against fraud and can help prevent it from happening in the first place.

Some examples of training and education that forensic accountants can provide include:

> Identifying the red flags of fraud

> Understanding how fraud schemes work

> Recognizing the warning signs of fraudulent behavior

How Forensic Accounting Detects Fraud

Top forensic accounting firms can uncover fraud before it causes significant damage to the business. These are some practices they follow.

1. Analyzing Financial Statements and Transactions

These two items are the first place to start when detecting fraud. An expert forensic accountant in NYC may use modern tools and techniques to analyze financial statements and transactions to identify any irregularities or anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activities. They look for:

> Discrepancies in numbers

> Unexplained fluctuations

> Unusual patterns in the data

> Missing or altered documents

> Fake invoices or transactions

2. Tracing Funds and Following the Money

Do the financial data and transactions seem fishy? Then, it’s time to follow the money trail. This is one of the key ways forensic accountants can detect fraud.

First, they check where the money came from. If the source seems legit, they then follow the trail of where the money went. This is where most frauds get caught because the money usually ends up in unexpected places, like personal accounts or shell companies. Or, it may have been used for extravagant purchases or converted into assets like property or investments.

3. Conducting Interviews and Gathering Testimonies

Even if the numbers scream fraud, forensic accountants often interview employees, management, and other relevant parties to gather as much information as possible to continue investigating. These interviews usually provide valuable insights into the company’s financial practices, employee behavior, and potential motivations for fraud. Gathering testimonies from those involved can also help corroborate the findings from the financial analysis and strengthen the case against the perpetrators.

4. Providing Expert Testimony in Legal Proceedings

Since forensic accounting consulting firms have no ties to a business, they are often called in as expert witnesses during legal proceedings. They present their findings and explain the complex financial details to judges and juries and help secure convictions and reach settlements.

The Benefits of Working with Top Forensic Accounting Firms

Many businesses and organizations have turned to forensic accounting consulting firms to help them detect and prevent fraud. One major reason is that these firms comprise distinctive units to uncover fraudulent activities. Some other benefits of working with top forensic accounting firms include an unbiased perspective, modern tools and techniques, and confidentiality.

If you’re an NYC business, hire Nazaire & Co. for all your forensic accounting needs. We have helped numerous clients uncover fraud and strengthen their financial controls and can do the same for your business. Contact us.

[bookkeeping-accounting-services]

Forensic Accounting: Uncovering Financial Fraud and Irregularities

StartupFino offers comprehensive insights into Forensic Accounting, a vital tool for uncovering financial fraud and irregularities. Forensic accountants employ detective work, advanced technology, and legal expertise to identify and prevent financial misconduct, ensuring businesses maintain transparency and integrity.

[frong-goes-nom]

Considering I'm about to be applying to colleges and stuff I looked into different kinds of accounting (what I want to major in) and I think I want to go into forensic accounting but I don't know for sure yet

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Picks and Shovels Chapter One (Part 2)

Picks and Shovels is a new, standalone technothriller starring Marty Hench, my two-fisted, hard-fighting, tech-scam-busting forensic accountant. You can pre-order it on my latest Kickstarter, which features a brilliant audiobook read by Wil Wheaton.

This week, I'm serializing the first chapter of my next novel, Picks and Shovels, a standalone Martin Hench novel that drops on Feb 15:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels

The book is up for presale on a Kickstarter that features the whole series as print books (with the option of personalized inscriptions), DRM-free ebooks, and a DRM-free audiobook read by Wil Wheaton:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/picks-and-shovels-marty-hench-at-the-dawn-of-enshittification

It's a story of how the first seeds of enshittification were planted in Silicon Valley, just as the first PCs were being born.

Here's part one:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/09/the-reverend-sirs/#fidelity-computing

And now, onto part two!

Rivka Goldman was the only woman in Sales Group One, this being the group that serviced and supported synagogues and their worshippers. She’d traveled all around the country, sitting down with men who owned garment factories, grocery stores, jewelry stores, delis, and other small businesses, training their “girls” in the use of the Fidelity system. It could handle business correspondence, company books, payroll, and other functions that used to be handled by four or five “girls”—who could all be replaced with just one.

Rivka was the only woman, and often it wasn’t she who made the sale, because the men who owned these businesses talked to other men. It was her male colleagues in Sales Group One who closed those sales and pocketed the commissions, but Rivka never complained.

“She was very good at it,” the rabbi told me. “She had a knack for computers, and for explaining them. The girls she trained, they learned. When they had troubles, they wanted to talk to her.”

Sister Maria-Eva Fernandez led a very large, all-woman team that ran mostly autonomously within Sales Group Two, a group that exclusively serviced parochial schools across the U.S., with a few customers in Central America. She was a product of these schools—she’d graduated from Christ the King in Denver and gone straight from there into the order, doing some student teaching before finding her way to Fidelity Computing via an internal talent search that filtered down to the convent from the archdiocese.

Like Rivka, Sister Maria-Eva was a natural: she could patiently train school administrators, their secretaries, department heads, and even individual teachers on the use of the Fidelity system. A couple of schools—fat with money from wealthy patrons—had bought entire classrooms’ worth of machines, creating programming labs for ambitious high-schoolers, and they were universally a success.

“We valued her, we praised her, we sent her to the national sales conference to lead workshops and share her expertise,” Father Marek said. “She was a star.” He spat the word.

Elizabeth Amelia Shepard Taylor didn’t have to go on a mission, but there was never any question but that she would. Her family had been prominent in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over a century, and, as the eldest of eleven kids, she had a familial duty to set an example.

She had hoped for a posting in Asia—she’d studied Cantonese and Japanese in high school—but instead she drew San Jose, California. She staffed the Mission House, helping the boys who knocked on doors all day, serving as den mother, big sister, and the object of innumerable crushes.

She’d found a women’s computing club via a notice at the local library and had taken turns with four other women—two her age, and two retirees—prodding at a pair of Commodore PET computers, learning BASIC. Her letters home to her family were filled with the excitement of discovery and mastery, the esoteric world of assembly language that she’d dived into with the help of books and magazines from the library.

When her father heard that Fidelity was recruiting, he wrote her a letter. The same day she’d received it, she’d written a letter to Fidelity Computing Ltd., typing it up on the used ZX80 she’d bought at a swap meet (“for the Mission House”). It arrived at Fidelity in a #10 envelope, three neatly printed pages with the rough edges of fanfold paper that had had its perforations separated. The last page was all code examples.

She was promised a job by return post, starting the day she finished her mission, and she never ended up going back to Salt Lake City—just got a Caltrain train to the Daly City station and met with a Bishop Clarke’s personal assistant, a young man named John Garn who had done his mission in Taipei and chatted with her the whole way to the office in Taiwanese, which she laboriously parsed into Cantonese.

“She whipped Sales Group Three into a powerhouse,” Bishop Clarke said, with a sad shake of his head. “We went from last to first in under a year. Outsold the other two divisions combined, and we were on track to doubling this year.”

The three women had met at the annual sales conference, a huge event that took over the Fort Mason Center for a long weekend. Most of the event was segregated by sales group, but there were plenary sessions, mixers, and keynote addresses from leading sales staff that helped diffuse the winningest tactics across the whole business.

“We think they met in a women’s interfaith prayer circle,” Rabbi Finkel said. Father Marek made another of his disgusted grunts, which were his principal contributions to the conversation. Rabbi Finkel inclined his head a little in the priest’s direction and said, “Not everyone agreed that they were a good idea at first, but the girls loved them, and they created bonds of comity that served them well.”

“We don’t have a lot of turnover,” Rabbi Finkel said. “People like working here. They do well, and they do good. People from our faith communities sometimes feel like the future is passing them by, like their religion is an anchor around their necks, keeping them stuck in the past. A job here is a way to be faithful and modern, without sacrificing your faith.”

The bishop nodded. “When they turned in their resignation notices, of course we took notice. As Rabbi Finkel says, we just don’t get a lot of turnover. And of course, these three girls were special to us. So we took notice. I met with Elizabeth myself and asked her if there was anything wrong, and she refused to discuss it. I asked her what she did want to discuss and she went off on these wild tangents, not making any sense. I wrote a letter to her father, but I never heard back.”

“Rivka is a good girl,” the rabbi said. “She told me that she still loved God and wanted to live a pious, modest life, but that she had ‘differences’ with the teachings. I asked her about these ‘differences,’ but that was all she could say: ‘differences, differences.’ What’s a difference? She wants to uncover her hair? Eat a cheeseburger? Pray with men? She wouldn’t say.”

Father Marek cleared his throat, made a face, glared. “When Sister Maria-Eva ignored my memo asking her to come see me, I called her Mother Superior and that’s when I discovered that she’d left the order. Left the order! Of course, I assumed there was a man involved, but that wasn’t it, not according to her Mother Superior. She had taken new orders with a . . . fringe sect. It seemed she was lost to us.”

Check out my Kickstarter to pre-order copies of my next novel, Picks and Shovels!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/10/smoke-filled-room-where-it-happens/#computing-freedom

[traceforensic]

⭐Uncovering Financial Fraud: The Role of Forensic Accounting Services in Illinois✨

Financial fraud poses a significant threat to businesses, organizations, and individuals, undermining trust and causing substantial financial losses. In the fight against fraud, forensic accounting services play a vital role, employing specialized techniques and expertise to uncover fraudulent activities, analyze financial data, and provide evidence for legal proceedings. This article explores the essential role of forensic accounting services in uncovering financial fraud.

💰Understanding Financial Fraud

Financial fraud encompasses a wide range of deceptive practices aimed at obtaining financial gain through illegitimate means. Common types of financial fraud include:

Asset Misappropriation: Theft, embezzlement, or misuse of company funds or assets for personal gain.

Financial Statement Fraud: Manipulation of financial statements to misrepresent the financial position or performance of an organization.

Corruption: Bribery, kickbacks, and other corrupt practices to gain unfair advantages or favors.

Money Laundering: Concealing the origins of illegally obtained funds through complex transactions to make them appear legitimate.

Investment Fraud: Deceptive practices in investment schemes, such as Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, and insider trading.

💼The Role of Forensic Accounting Services

Forensic accounting services play a crucial role in uncovering financial fraud by:

Fraud Detection: Identifying suspicious transactions, irregularities, and anomalies in financial records and documents.

Investigative Analysis: Conducting thorough investigations into allegations of financial fraud, gathering evidence, and documenting findings.

Financial Data Analysis: Analyzing financial data, including transactions, accounts, and statements, to identify patterns and trends indicative of fraud.

Asset Tracing: Tracing the flow of funds and assets to uncover hidden assets, fraudulent transfers, and instances of asset dissipation.

Expert Testimony: Providing expert testimony and evidence in legal proceedings to explain complex financial concepts and present findings.

🔎Techniques Utilized by Forensic Accountants

Forensic accountants employ a variety of techniques and methodologies to uncover financial fraud, including:

Document Examination: Reviewing financial documents, such as invoices, receipts, bank statements, and contracts, for inconsistencies and discrepancies.

Interviews and Interrogations: Conducting interviews with employees, stakeholders, and other relevant parties to gather information and uncover potential leads.

Data Analytics: Utilizing advanced data analysis tools and techniques to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies in financial data.

Surveillance: Monitoring financial transactions and activities to identify suspicious behavior and potential red flags.

Digital Forensics: Examining electronic records, emails, and other digital evidence to uncover evidence of fraud or misconduct.

🕵️‍♂️Challenges in Uncovering Financial Fraud

Forensic accountants face various challenges in their efforts to uncover financial fraud, including:

Sophisticated Fraud Schemes: Fraudsters continuously evolve their tactics and schemes, making it challenging to detect and prevent fraud.

Complex Financial Transactions: Investigating complex financial transactions, business structures, and accounting practices requires specialized knowledge and expertise.

Evidence Collection: Gathering and preserving relevant financial evidence to support legal proceedings can be challenging, particularly when dealing with concealed assets and elusive perpetrators.

Legal and Ethical Considerations: Adhering to legal and ethical standards while conducting investigations necessitates careful navigation of confidentiality, privacy, and privilege issues.

🛡️The Impact of Forensic Accounting Interventions

Forensic accounting interventions have significant implications for combating financial fraud, including:

Fraud Prevention: By uncovering fraudulent activities and weaknesses in internal controls, forensic accountants help organizations implement preventive measures to deter future fraud.

Financial Recovery: Recovering misappropriated funds and assets through forensic investigations enables organizations to mitigate financial losses and pursue restitution.

Legal Accountability: Holding perpetrators of financial fraud accountable for their actions through legal proceedings and regulatory enforcement.

Enhanced Transparency: Transparent and accountable financial practices foster trust among stakeholders, investors, and the public, enhancing the reputation and credibility of organizations.

🌈Conclusion🌈

Forensic accounting services play a critical role in uncovering financial fraud, protecting businesses, organizations, and individuals from the devastating impacts of deceptive practices. Through their expertise, investigative skills, and commitment to ethical standards, forensic accountants serve as guardians of financial integrity, helping to ensure transparency, accountability, and trust in the financial system. As financial fraud continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, the demand for skilled forensic accounting services remains high, underscoring their indispensable contribution to combating fraud and preserving financial integrity.

[strategiadvizo]

Insights into the Delhi Liquor Scam: A Strategia Advizo Accounting Perspective

Disclaimer: This analysis is a hypothetical simulation based on publicly available information. It is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or a definitive account of events. The opinions and conclusions drawn herein are those of the Strategia Advizo expert accounting team and do not reflect the views of any implicated parties or governmental…

[pricekongcpas]

Expert Accounting and Consulting Services in Phoenix, AZ by Price Kong

Price Kong has CPAs and accounting professionals with extensive knowledge in the various areas of accounting and consulting that your firm requires. We are prepared to help you with accounting and consulting services such as managerial accounting, public company accounting, transaction services, and forensic accounting. To learn more about these services, please visit our website.

[centumtax]

Discover how forensic accounting safeguards businesses from errors. Uncover insights into financial accuracy and protection. Secure your business with expert oversight.

[yourlegalus]

In the world of accounting, the term “forensic” might conjure images of crime scene investigations and detective work, but in the realm of financial management, forensic accounting is a powerful tool that goes beyond mere numbers. It’s not just about tracking financial transactions; it’s about unraveling the stories hidden within those numbers and providing a holistic view of a company’s financial health.

[irishyuri]

these were such fun warmups lmao COWBOY AU (briefly) BACK ONLINE ‼️‼️