In recent efforts, the AICPA is promoting forensic accounting skills to CPA firms and university professors. As part of this push, the Institute has published a new report entitled, “Characteristics and Skills of the Forensic Accountant, which presents qualities that surveyed attorneys, forensic CPAs and academics see as critical for the forensic accounting discipline, particularly in the wake of the economic crisis. This report is available at http://fvs.aicpa.org.

QUESTIONS:
1. After reading the article, how would you explain the career of a forensic accountant to one of your friends?
2. Which two essential values of CPA’s does AICPA chairman Robert Harris point to as critical for forensic accounting?
3. Explain why you think there were differences in how the three groups of people surveyed by the AICPA ranked the core skills needed by forensic accountants.

Source: WebCPA staff. (2010). AICPA Pushes for More Forensic Accountants, April 8, 2010, WebCPA – NEWSWIRE (Retrievable at http://www.webcpa.com/news/AICPA-Pushes-More-Forensic-Accountants-53838-1.html