Developing the next generation of forensic accountants

Helping a new colleague acclimate to investigations during an engagement can be difficult for veteran forensic accountants, but taking the time to train new employees will pay dividends in the future. The level and breadth of knowledge required to succeed in this industry can be insurmountable without proper training; seasoned fraud investigators have that breadth and wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next generation of anti-fraud professionals.

Veterans of this profession have a duty to train and develop the next generation of fraud fighters. Brief deadlines, staff shortages, and looking ahead to the next engagement might be excuses to avoid taking the time to properly develop and train your team, but it’s imperative that we attract and retain talent. According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), 75% of CPAs are set to retire within the next decade, and not replacing them with a younger generation of well-trained accountants means that organizations lose an important safeguard against fraud. In 2023, companies like Advance Auto Parts, Joby Aviation and German biotech company Evotec disclosed material weaknesses in their financial statements due in part to a lack of accounting staff. (See “The Aging of the Accounting Profession,” by Barry R. Palatnik, EdD, MBA, CPA, and Rachel Serebnick, NJCPA, April 28, 2023; “The Accountant Shortage Is Showing Up in Financial Statements,” by Mark Maurer, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2023; and “Should CFOs be worried about the accounting shortage?” The CFO, April 18, 2024.) To ensure a future with a deep bench of skilled accountants, there’s no time like now to develop a training plan to pass your fraud-fighting skills on to the next generation.

In my own experience training new employees, I’ve found much success combining a formal training program with on-the-job training from ongoing cases. A comprehensive training program should be well defined with achievable goals. For example, you might include requirements for completing continuing professional education classes to obtain certifications such as the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credentials, as well as requirements for developing technological skills. The following are some training and development methods that I’ve used to train new employees that you can easily implement in your own training program.