CPA Training and Certification for High-Demand Financial Forensics Services

SALT LAKE CITY—April 1, 2013—NACVA’s five-day Cornerstones of Financial Forensics Workshop was built upon the Content Specification Outline (CSO) underlying the AICPA^®’s Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF^®) Body of Knowledge. Taught by a team of nationally-recognized financial forensic experts the Cornerstones Workshop was developed by the NACVA to be the AICPA’s “Preferred Provider” of this training for candidates seeking the CFF credential.

The intensive, five-day, forty-hour workshop delivers an understanding of professional standards, the legal underpinnings of financial forensics, as well as a thorough overview of the following specialized areas of financial forensics practice: computer forensic analysis; family law; valuation; calculation of economic damages; financial statement misrepresentation; bankruptcy; insolvency and reorganization; and fraud prevention, detection and response. In addition to instruction and materials, attendees will benefit from and take away a complete bibliography, practice aids, guides, checklists, and web links to direct them to additional study and education to help them to obtain the credential. Training and certification in this field will greatly assist CPAs to build their practice in this rapidly growing accounting niche.

CPA Firms Need to Find New Ways to Build Revenue in Post-Recession World is the headline of a March 21, 2013 Accounting Web article authored by Frank Byrt. Becoming an expert in forensic accounting to detect fraud, investigating financial losses, and providing litigation support services are options cited for CPA firms to build revenue.

"Demand for forensic accounting services will remain strong over the next five years in the United States as a result of increased financial regulations and continued demand for investigative services in the wake of the recession," reports Ken Tysiac in a September 2012 article for CPA Insider™.

The AICPA has scheduled the CFF examination in two windows in 2013. The first exam opportunity is between July 1 and 31 with a registration deadline of June 1, 2013. To prepare for the summer examination window, the Cornerstones Workshop will be offered May 6-10 in Chicago, IL, and July 15-19 in Orlando, FL. The second exam opportunity is between November 15 and December 20 with a registration deadline of October 15, 2013. To prepare for the winter examination window, the Cornerstones Workshop will be offered July 29-August 2 in Columbus, OH, October 28-November 1 in San Diego, CA, and November 4-8 in Houston, TX.

“For years CPAs have heard specialize, specialize, specialize, but until this course, which is defining the financial forensics profession, I’ve not quite known where to turn for training and education," stated past attendee Ray Cook, CPA, CFF, from Bridgeport, TX.

“As an audit and tax practitioner for over 20 years, I’ve wanted to move my practice into the consulting arena and have had a curiosity about financial forensics and what’s involved in making that transition. This workshop has introduced me to the specialty areas that will take my practice to the next level,” stated past attendee Mittchelena Meade, CPA, CFF, from Joliet, IL.

"This isn’t just CPE, this is career changing,” stated past attendee Patricia Havard, CPA, CFF, from Lancaster, TX.

Havard, Cook, and Meade ultimately achieved the CFF credential after attending the Cornerstones Workshop.

“This incredible program would not have been possible to create had we not had the good fortune to amass an amazing team of instructors—it is a who’s who of the best and brightest in the financial forensics discipline,” said Parnell Black, MBA, CPA, CVA, and NACVA's CEO.

“We start by defining both the legal and professional environments today in order to introduce relevant precedents, case law, and professional standards. Then we drill down into each functional area. We cover it all: from business valuation to bankruptcy, financial statement misrepresentation to forensic accounting, and fraud prevention to family law,” states Michael Kaplan, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, MAFF, who has more than 37 years of experience in the areas of forensic accounting, business valuation, and litigation consulting. Kaplan was the lead developer of the Cornerstones Workshop.

“This training is essential for CPAs who want to branch out into the area of matrimonial litigation. This workshop gives financial consultants the basic tools they need to perform analysis of income, assistance with division of property, and other financial issues uniquely specific to matrimonial cases,” states Karen J. Kaseno, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, CFE, MAFF, who has been practicing in the area of litigation services since 1989. Kaseno is former Chair of the Fraud Section of the Litigation Services Committee of the California CPA Society.

“The Cornerstones Workshop provides a basis for the expert to build an effective and defensible lost profits and damages model in the context of litigation. It differentiates the typical lost profits model and those used for patent, copyright, and trademark damages and the related parameters and legal principles to the presentation of business damages,” states Howard Zandman, CPA/CFF, MAFF, a Partner in the Litigation Support Services Group of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. He has over 30 years of experience in complex damages dispute resolution.

For program and registration details, visit Cornerstones of Financial Forensics Workshop.