Where accounting makes "cents"

It's not often that I network but when I do, people are often surprised that I'm an accountant. Accountants seem to have a stereotype of being dull and forgettable. Initially people are surprised with my haircut and when they find out that I have tattoos and also a 28 year old son and most importantly can carry on conversations about college football, and non-accounting related topics. We are one of the few countries that equates our professional life around identity, so naturally when many find out I'm also a forensic accountant, there's some initial shock. I'm incredibly charismatic, can be social and mask as an extrovert but I've encountered many in my field that can't. For some reason, many investigators I've met are rigid, stoic, cold and not very personable and it's all because they have allowed what they do to become who they are. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨...

Consistency alone isn't a reliable indicator of legitimacy, especially in fraud detection. Activities can be consistently fraudulent, and patterns can sometimes mask underlying issues. It's crucial to look at a combination of factors, such as anomalies in behavior, context, and risk assessments, rather than relying solely on consistency as a sign of authenticity. Have you investigated a fraud case where the fraud went undetected because all of the transactions were similar? in numerical order? same customer? same volume of transactions? 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫, 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬: *Frequent Small Transactions *High Volume of Low-Value Sales *Repetitive Transfers Between Accounts *Consistent Use of Shell Companies *Structured Payments for Services *Sales to Non-Existent Client...

𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒆𝒏𝒅: - Resource Reallocation *An end of year portfolio review reveals which clients provide the best ROI vs. those consuming disproportionate resources. *Some clients have evolved beyond the consultant's core expertise or target market. - Performance and Payments History *Scope keeps expanding without corresponding compensation adjustments. *Patterns of late payments or payment disputes. *Declining profit margins that makes the engagement unsustainable. -Relationship Dynamics and Fit *Misaligned expectations have created friction. *Clients disregard recommendations or fails to implement agreed upon changes. *Communication challenges have made the partnership difficult. 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 ...