Forensic Accounting
Forensic accounting applies accounting and audit techniques to produce evidence usable in internal inquiries, court proceedings, arbitrations and proceedings before oversight bodies.
Context in which the service applies
The records available are often incomplete, scattered across different systems, or produced by people involved in the matter under review. The work therefore requires preserving the chain of custody of the information, reconstructing movements from independent sources, and clearly distinguishing what has been established from what remains an indication.
When this analysis is needed
- Suspected diversion of funds, improper payments or manipulation of results.
- The need to reconstruct a period's accounting from incomplete records.
- Review of intercompany or related-party movements within a group.
- Corporate criminal proceedings or proceedings before courts of audit.
- Disputes over the concealment of assets or income.
Questions typically analyzed
- Tracing financial flows across accounts, entities and periods.
- Accounting and financial reconstruction from primary sources.
- Identification of atypical entries, reversals and reclassifications.
- Reconciliation between accounting, banking and tax records.
- Analysis of contingencies and the effect of unrecorded transactions.
- Documentation of accounting inconsistencies with the supporting source.
How SGEx Approaches This
SGEx defines the object and period of the review, organizes the chain of custody of the documents, cross-references independent data sources, and records every finding with the evidence that supports it. Reports separate verified facts, technical inferences and the limitations that affected the scope of work.
Possible Work and Deliverables
The format is defined according to the case, the proceeding and the purpose of the work.
- Forensic accounting report
- Documented accounting reconstruction
- Financial flow map
- Expert opinion
- Technical support for interviews and depositions
Related Experience
- Investigation and Fraud
Technical advisory on fraud at an investment fund
Examination of irregular transactions that drove an investment fund into insolvency, at the request of counsel for a family of investors in an accounting-for-proceeds action.
- Economic and Financial Expert Analysis
Technical advisory on concealment of amounts in judgment enforcement proceedings
Review of the profits reported by a public-services concessionaire to determine the amount actually owed to a shareholder in judgment enforcement proceedings.
Other SGEx Solutions
Services, specialties, contexts and industries connected to this topic under SGEx's relationship matrix.
Related Services
- Fraud InvestigationTechnical investigation of financial and accounting irregularities, including fund tracing and the documentation of findings.
- Financial and Operational AuditExamination of financial statements, processes and controls, focused on the reliability of information and adherence to defined criteria.
- Accounting Expert ExaminationIndependent expert examination of accounting records, financial statements and calculations, prepared for judicial, arbitral and administrative proceedings.
- Economic and Financial Expert AnalysisAnalysis of values, cash flows, economic assumptions and financial models in disputes and decisions that turn on quantification.
- Criminal Forensic AccountingAccounting and financial examination of facts under investigation in criminal and administrative sanctioning proceedings, for those who accuse and those who defend.
- Tax Expert ServicesAccounting and tax examination of assessments, credits, tax bases and amounts in dispute in court and administrative proceedings.
Related Specialties
- Forensic Accounting and AuditAccounting reconstruction, tracing of financial flows, analysis of financial statements, contingencies and fraud investigation.
- Tax MattersLoss of tax immunities and benefits, enforcement and challenge of tax assessments, contingencies and review of calculations.
- Wealth, Family and Succession MattersAsset determination and valuation, divorce settlements, probate and estate proceedings, ownership interests and asset tracing.
- Rendering of Accounts and Financial ReconciliationExamination and reconstruction of accounts, reconciliations, and receivables, payables and balances among partners, officers and other parties.
- Financial Crime and Money LaunderingAccounting and financial examination of fraud, diversion and misappropriation, and of the path funds took to conceal their origin.
Related Areas of Practice
- Corporate Criminal MattersCriminal proceedings involving companies and their officers in which the evidence turns on accounting and financial analysis.
- Corporate and Shareholder DisputesDisputes among shareholders, partners and officers, corporate dissolutions, buyout claims and disagreements over financial results.
- Courts of Audit and Oversight BodiesProceedings before Courts of Audit, internal-control bodies and other oversight bodies that examine the use of public funds.
- Tax Litigation and Administrative ProceedingsTax controversies in judicial and administrative proceedings that turn on accounting evidence and the review of tax calculations.
- Administrative and Regulatory MattersAdministrative proceedings and regulatory disputes with an economic and financial impact on companies and concession holders.
Related Industries
- Public Administration and GovernmentPublic contracts, cooperation agreements, concessions and oversight proceedings involving public funds.
- Financial and Capital MarketsFinancial institutions, investment funds, investors and publicly listed companies involved in disputes, valuations and financial reviews.
- Associations, Foundations and Nonprofit SectorAssociations, foundations and nonprofit organizations facing accountability duties, tax-immunity requirements and financial reviews.
- Cryptocurrency and Digital AssetsCustody, movement and recordkeeping of crypto-assets in investigations, disputes and asset-tracing engagements.
- Energy and Natural ResourcesPower generation, transmission and distribution, oil, gas and mining, involving long-term contracts and regulatory disputes.
- Pharmaceuticals and Drug DistributionPharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retail chains involved in commercial, tax and accountability disputes.
Request an Analysis
Describe the technical question, the context in which it arose, and the documents available. This information lets SGEx assess the scope of the work before any proposal.