Forensic Accounting: Should It Be A Required Course For Accounting Majors?

Abstract

Most of the general public and hopefully students of accounting are aware of the attention grabbing frauds of the 21st Century, including Enron and Worldcom. Fraud and deceit are prevalent in our everyday lives, including activities of small business people when there are shareholder disputes and among individuals in matrimonial disputes. Forensic accountants are important to assist exposing the existence of fraud, but its role goes beyond dealing with fraud and includes applying investigative techniques to assist businesses and individuals to reveal the underlying financial facts or true value in various situations. Since Forensic Accounting is the fastest growing arena in the accounting profession, the authors believe that consideration should be given to its inclusion as a required course in the accounting curriculum.