In the process of checking the accounting and documentation of the company by the arbitration court, a forensic accounting examination may be appointed. Its purpose is to strengthen the rule of law, to obtain the most complete information about the activities of the company. It is carried out by independent experts who have knowledge of the industry under study.
Surely you are asking yourself: why is this expertise needed? The thing is that with the help of it it is possible to establish the distortion of information in the accounting and the degree of its influence on further results. Also, forensic experts will be able to restore the missing data in the accounting.
The object of examination can be machines, materials, equipment, documents. All this is called the materials of the investigation.
Forensic accounting can be carried out using a variety of methods. For example, it can be analysis, modeling, calculation, data comparability, and more. The following types of expertise are also distinguished. It can be primary and repeated, commission (that is, carried out by several specialists) and complex (several examinations are carried out at once).
It should be noted that examination is not a mandatory check. It is carried out by decision of the prosecutor, investigator or court. The results of the examination are used when making decisions in a criminal, administrative or civil case.
Forensic accounting is significantly different from a tax audit. Firstly, it is carried out by professionals in this industry, and secondly, not all accounting is checked, but certain documentation. Let's say the following task was set for a specialist-expert: to find confirmation that the organization is a creditor to any counterparty. This must be done using primary accounting documents. The expert will only study the data that relate to this company.
Where does the examination begin? The accused or the victim applies for the appointment of a forensic accounting examination, this decision can be made by the prosecutor himself (if he sees a need for this). Then the decision of the judge, prosecutor, investigator or the person who made the inquiry is drawn up. The document must contain the following information:
- grounds for appointing an examination;
- FULL NAME. specialist-expert;
- a list of tasks assigned to the expert;
- a list of materials to be provided by the parties (it can even be Flash media, draft sheets, etc.);
- the term of the examination.
During the specified period, an expert or several specialists must carry out a check, the results are drawn up in the form of a conclusion. This document must comply with the procedural Russian legislation. The conclusion should contain answers to all the questions posed, and the entire process of checking documents and other values should also be described here.
