With widespread financial scams in the corporate and banking sectors, the importance of forensic accounting and auditing has significantly increased. Forensic accounting, in fact, utilizes accounting, auditing and investigative `skills' to conduct an examination into a company's financial statements. Forensic accountants investigate and document financial fraud and white-collar crimes. They also provide litigation support to attorneys and law enforcement agencies investigating financial wrongdoing. Forensic accountants are being engaged in public practice or employed by insurance companies, banks, police forces, government agencies and other organizations. This article advocates the appreciation and consideration of forensic accounting and auditing as a specialized field in the accountancy profession. Indeed, there is a future in forensic accounting and auditing as a separate niche consulting.

From the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution, to the information age, and now, to the knowledge age, we are seeing changes not thought possible just 20 years ago. As we have moved into the new millennium, with technology leading the change in providing knowledge information and productivity for the creation of a new workforce and a new global marketplace, the global accountancy profession is in the enviable position of a thought and change leader. One of the most recent developments is the exceptional growth in the development of new service areas available to the accountancy profession; particularly, to the audit side of the profession.

Until recently, detecting fraud or white-collar crime was thought to be part of the accounting function. Fraud was something the internal or external auditors were supposed to guard against by their periodic audits. Now, we as accountants know that auditors can only check for the compliance of a company's books to generally accepted accounting principles, auditing standards, and company policies.

Forensic Accounting and Auditing, Banking Sectors, Government Agencies, Agricultural Revolution, Indian Economist, Chartered Accountants, Professional Organizations, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Statements, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Financial Transactions, US Accounting Firms.