SAICA and the ACFE SA launch the Forensic Accounting Forum

Johannesburg, Friday 16 August 2013 – The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners South African Chapter (ACFE SA) have launched the Forensic Accounting Forum (Forum) after both professional bodies identified a need for a forum that would provide a networking platform for accounting professionals who also operate in the area of
forensic accounting.
This Forum will function as a user group for forensic accounting professionals and academics to convene on a regular basis to discuss and exchange views, as well as render a support network to interested members. The Forum is independent from any ‘accounting designation’, and aims to promote the discipline of forensic accounting, with the key objectives being to develop knowledge and expertise to prevent, detect and investigate fraud, to recover funds derived from criminal activities as well as to obtain financial awards resulting from civil disputes.
Kelly Masete, SAICA’s project director for Members in Business explains that another key objective of the Forum is to provide information and support to forensic accounting practitioners from both the private and public sectors, faced with technological, benchmarking best practices, as well as continuous educational issues.  “Both SAICA and the ACFE SA envisioned a common umbrella under which to encompass best practices and disciples relating to forensic accounting. As such, the Forum has been established and is built on an academic and research foundation.”
Masete adds that the Forum will also provide and share subject-specific information within the industry of forensic accounting.  “In addition, this Forum will also bridge the gap between academic thought leadership and its practical applications and practices in the real-world and, naturally this Forum will provide a thought leadership platform on matters relating to forensic accounting.”
Whilst the accounting profession is a broad and diverse discipline with many variations and areas of specialisation, Masete confirms that the area of forensic accounting that will be addressed by the Forum will not only benefit practitioners engaged in this area of specialization. “This Forum will also be of interest to accountants and legal practitioners who want to improve their professional skills”, Masete says, confirming that investigative and forensic accounting is a field where the accounting and legal professions join forces in the litigation process.
Jaco de Jager, CEO of ACFE SA agrees that forensic accounting is a management function that is open to individuals of all job functions within the forensic accounting industry and levels of experience who are interested in the prevention, detection and deterrence of fraud. He reiterates that the purpose of the Forum is to support investigative and forensic accounting in a field where there are synergies between the accounting, investigation and legal professions especially during the litigation process. As stated one need to look further than just the numbers as the nature of the various schemes differs. As such the purpose of the Forum is to support its members by providing access to the knowledge, resources and training needed to perform their jobs adequately.
De Jager says there are systems that the Forum has already put in place to enable the members to share information on matters pertaining to forensic accounting and these include the promotion of good forensic accounting practices by:

• Identifying best practices and benchmarking in the Southern African, international contexts and industry / sector specific contexts
• Enhancing the relationship and interaction between academia and the profession
• Facilitating ‘Continuous Professional Development and Education’ within forensic accounting
• Enabling the sharing of information on matters pertaining to forensic accounting.

“Now that the Forum is fully operational, we encourage all accounting professionals functioning in the area of forensic accounting to please contact us by emailing us at jaco@acfesa.co.za for more information on how to become a member”, de Jager concludes.