Good news from bad times

As the world gets more complex, there arises a growing need for specialists in every field. Just as we now have doctors for every bone and body part of the human body, there is another growing niche – forensic auditors.

Just as we have forensic experts who investigate into the aftermath of the murder to help nab the killer, there is a growing demand for forensic auditors who investigate white-collar crimes. Investigations and risk consulting firm Kroll stated in a recent survey that in FY13, 69% of companies were affected by fraud, a rise of 68% from FY12.  And these white collar crimes were classified into seven categories - theft of physical assets, theft of information, corruption and bribery, internal financial fraud, vendor fraud, management conflict of interest and regulatory breach. 89% of the respondents said that the crime was usually an insider job.

Thus as crime goes up, the need for these specialists is on the increase with these forensic auditors, not just screening the books of accounts but more into intelligence gathering.  This is a job no longer restricted to just chartered accountants, MBAs and lawyers, more specialized talents are being tapped into - financial research analysts, engineers, journalists, artists and even former law enforcement officials. As times change, newer opportunities do arise- the positive side of bad times!