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Why the FBI requires advanced forensic accounting training

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Why the FBI requires advanced forensic accounting training

When you think about the FBI, you might imagine stereotypical “feds” from movies busting down doors and arresting dangerous mobsters. You might also imagine agents infiltrating terrorist organizations in daring undercover operations. One thing that might not come to mind: accountants!

In truth, accountants with specialized expertise have played a central role in the FBI’s work since its inception. More than a third of the Bureau’s first employees were bank examiners, and today 15% of the FBI’s staff are forensic accountants.

Becoming a forensic accountant is an impactful and rewarding way to use your accounting skills. It’s also a demanding career path that requires higher-than-usual levels of expertise. And it’s not just the FBI that’s hiring: intelligence agencies all over the world like Britain’s MI6, Israel’s Mossad, India’s CBI, and Australia’s AUSTRAC recruit qualified candidates for these jobs. If you want to make the cut, here’s what you need to know:

In recent decades, the FBI has taken on savings and loan scandals, the war on terror, and the rise of increasingly complex financial crimes. During this time, accounting experts have become increasingly important to the Bureau’s operations. Their expertise is vital to investigations of cyber-crime, organized crime, public corruption, and even counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

According to the FBI website, forensic accountants at the agency investigate a wide range of financial crimes, including corporate fraud, financial institution fraud, healthcare fraud, mortgage fraud, and securities/commodities fraud. This requires them to identify suspicious activities and package these financial facts for law enforcement and judicial counterparts. This may include providing expert testimony in a courtroom.

Forensic accountants work side by side with FBI agents on cases, and in the words of one FBI section chief, “they do everything an agent does except for executing arrest warrants and carrying a gun.” It’s an extremely important position requiring a high level of performance. It’s no surprise that the Bureau looks to hire candidates with high levels of qualification.

Due to the complex and challenging nature of the financial crimes they investigate, FBI forensic accountants are more qualified than typical accountants. At a minimum, the FBI requires a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in accounting, or a bachelor’s degree with 24 semester hours in accounting (six of which may be in business law).

That’s just the beginning. The Bureau strongly prefers candidates to have professional certification in at least one of the following:

  • Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  • Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
  • Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)

Specialized accounting expertise can also give your application an edge. Additional preference is given to candidates with experience in fields like public accounting, government accounting, financial services, and corporate accounting.

There are also certain types of training that only the Bureau can provide. Once hired, forensic accountants take part in an intensive five-week training program at the FBI Academy to develop their investigative abilities. Skills taught include financial investigative techniques, interviewing strategies, and search warrant execution.

Forensic accountants are more important than ever, and the FBI is actively recruiting top-quality professionals. In their words, they’re hiring candidates at “all stages of career and specialized experience.”

If you’re just starting out in your accounting career, or you’re a mid-career accounting veteran looking to elevate your game to the highest possible level, forensic accounting could be a part of your future. And if you’re worried that your résumé isn’t quite FBI-ready (or MI6-ready, or AUSTRAC-ready), don’t worry! With Coursera, you can find accounting degree programs and Specializations to put you over the top. Visit Coursera to learn more about how the University of Illinois iMSA can prepare your career for the future of accounting.

 

A New App

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A New App

If you could create your own smartphone app, what would it do? How would it work? In what ways might it make people’s lives better, easier, more interesting or just more fun?

Tell us your idea in the comments, then read the related article for some more ideas.

Find many more ways to use our Picture Prompt feature in this lesson plan.

How Much Do You Know About Tanzania?

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How Much Do You Know About Tanzania?

Can you find Tanzania on a map? What else do you know about this East African nation with 57 million people.

How Important Is Correct Spelling?

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How Important Is Correct Spelling?

Take a look at the photo and caption above. If you hadn’t been alerted to the misspelling of the word “responsibility” by the caption, do you think you would have noticed it on Australia’s new $50 bill?

Do you think this error reflects poorly on the Australian government, or the citizens of Australia, in any way? Or do you sympathize with the people responsible for printing the money — after all, mistakes happen?

Are you a good speller? Do you tend to notice misspellings? In your opinion, how much does correct spelling matter?

In “Getting the Spelling Right on 46 Million Bank Notes? It’s a Big Responsibilty,” Niraj Chokshi writes:

It is our duty, our responsibility, to bring you this news: Australia put 46 million new dollar bills into circulation in October and months passed before anyone seemed to have noticed that the currency contained an unfortunate spelling error.

The admittedly tiny mistake, on the new $50 note, came to light this week, according to local reports, after someone spotted the typo and anonymously alerted a radio station to the problem: The last “i” in the word “responsibility” was missing.

The Reserve Bank of Australia told local publications that it would fix the mistake, but leave the millions of notes bearing the misspelled word in circulation.

The article also states:

The error appears in what the bank describes as “microprint,” a miniature section of text, which in this case also doubles as the ground beneath a women’s and maternity hospital depicted on the note.

The hospital was established a century ago with help from several prominent Australian women, including Edith Cowan, the first female member of any Australian parliament. The passage is an excerpt from Ms. Cowan’s first speech to the Western Australian Parliament.

“It is a great responsibility to be the only woman here, and I want to emphasize the necessity which exists for other women being here,” she said in the speech, delivered in July 1921.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

— Did you notice that The New York Times opted to feature the misspelling of “responsibility” in the headline for the article? Why do you think that decision was made? Was it a good one, in your opinion?

— What are your thoughts on the decision to leave the bills that bear the misspelling in circulation? Do you think the size of the type or its location played a role? What about the cost of replacing them?

— Do you generally notice misspellings in things like signs, advertisements, articles, text messages and social media posts? Do you care when you see a misspelled word?

— How important do adults in your life, such as teachers, parents, grandparents and bosses, think correct spelling is? Is this sentiment in line with how important you think it is? Does correct spelling matter? Explain.

Strategy: Why it’s a Cornerstone of the Modern MBA

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Strategy: Why it’s a Cornerstone of the Modern MBA

With technology and global markets evolving at an unprecedented pace, today’s most successful business leaders are the ones who recognise new strategic opportunities — and seize them — before their competitors do. This is why Macquarie University is moving beyond focusing solely on traditional business metrics and financial analytics. Instead, Macquarie puts strategising at the heart of their online Global MBA alongside five other specialisations in Leading, Analysing, Influencing, Adapting, and Problem Solving.  

In tandem with the five other future-focused capabilities that structure the program, Macquarie prepares you to be the changemaker that gives your company and you an edge.

Like all of the specialisations in the Global MBA program, Strategising consists of a series of courses designed to develop the skills you need to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. Working online in live sessions with faculty and fellow learners from all over the world, you’ll hone your strategic thinking skills across four areas:

Be Competitive: To survive and thrive in a cutthroat, high-tech business world, you need to outthink the competition and orient your company in the right direction to succeed. You’ll dive deep on the latest thinking in value co-creation, strategy, and marketing, and learn how to continuously monitor, analyse, and assess your progress against the right competitive metrics.

Be Global: In a globalised trade environment, businesses with supply chains that minimise costs and maximise responsiveness to customer demand get a huge competitive advantage. This course will give you the skills needed to evaluate critical trade-offs between cost, quality, and flexibility in designing and managing global supply chains.

Be Disruptive: “Disruption” has become a buzzword for a good reason. The most successful companies of recent years, from Amazon to Uber, have all reshaped existing industries — or created entirely new ones! This course will enhance your ability to recognise the disruptive strategies and technologies you can use to take your company to the next level.

Be Sustainable: Some of the most successful CEOs in the world, including IBM’s Ginny Rommetty, are some of the most committed to considering their business’ impact on society. It’s increasingly recognised that leading a sustainably profitable company goes hand-in-hand with social and environmental sustainability. This course will expand your strategic thinking in this area and help you understand how to achieve these goals.

Ranked as one of the top 1 percent of universities globally, Macquarie is renowned for producing graduates that are some of the most sought-after business leaders in the world. The affordable, flexible, and 100% online Global MBA makes this strategic educational opportunity more accessible than ever. Learn more about the degree curriculum and admissions process by visiting the Global MBA page on Coursera.

 

Influencing: Why it’s a Cornerstone of the Modern MBA

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Influencing: Why it’s a Cornerstone of the Modern MBA

For today’s leaders, business is personal. Whether you’re negotiating deals, mediating relationships with stakeholders, or managing an increasingly-flexible workforce, today’s business leaders need people skills as much as analytical abilities. These “soft skills” are precisely what’s most in demand for job applicants, according to LinkedIn.

With a Specialisation in Influencing, the online Global MBA from Macquarie University on Coursera has made the development of these skills a cornerstone of its curriculum. Alongside the five other future-focused capabilities, you’ll develop these skills to take management to the next level.

The Influencing specialisation builds your capabilities through a series of courses that help you to  navigate the complexities of today’s workplace. As with every specialisation in the program, you’ll learn through a combination of engaging live sessions as well as other learning activities that can be completed at your own pace.

These four courses will build the skills you need to become an influencer in your field:

Communicate with Impact: The ability to effectively communicate your vision — and influence your colleagues to get on board — is essential for any business leader. You’ll maximise your impact by tailoring your approach to different contexts.

Manage Change: Leadership roles in today’s fast-moving, globalised world demand a “change mindset” to carry you and your team through the twists and turns that your business journey will take. This course helps you tackle challenges head-on and develop the mentality needed to shape your company’s future.

Negotiate and Resolve Conflict: Office politics and power struggles are unavoidable in any business, and the ability to resolve these conflicts is crucial. You’ll learn to conceptualise power and politics in your company, develop strategies for influencing key stakeholders, and act with integrity while negotiating sensitive situations.

Engage the Board: Perhaps the most important stakeholders that executives need to influence are those at the top of the corporate governance structure: the board of directors. You’ll learn how to understand your board’s objectives and develop a leadership approach and risk management framework that ensures your team achieves its goals.

Learn about the Global MBA’s curriculum and admission process.

 

Learning With: ‘Where Will Measles Break Out Next? Chicago, Los Angeles or Miami, Scientists Predict’

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Learning With: ‘Where Will Measles Break Out Next? Chicago, Los Angeles or Miami, Scientists Predict’

Before reading the article:

What have you heard or read about recent outbreaks of measles in the United States? Has there been an outbreak near where you live?

Have a look at the interactive “Where Every Measles Case Has Been Reported This Year.” Can you identify any patterns to the outbreaks? Can the map help make predictions about future outbreaks?

Now, read the article, “Where Will Measles Break Out Next? Chicago, Los Angeles or Miami, Scientists Predict,” and answer the following questions:

1. According to the new study, which U.S. county is likeliest to experience a measles outbreak? What 10 cities are more likely to experience an outbreak than other cities?

2. How did researchers assess the risk? What factors did they take into consideration?

3. Why did the team focus on counties that have international airports? Of these airports, which were given more weight? Why?

4. Why did both the new study and one conducted last year fail to identify the location of the country’s largest measles outbreak? Where did that outbreak occur and where was it predicted to happen?

5. How accurate was a similar study published last June in PLOS Medicine in ranking the risk of measles outbreaks in states that allow philosophical or personal belief exemptions to vaccination? Why was New York omitted from that study?

Finally, tell us more about what you think:

The article mentions that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the past five years, 75 percent of measles cases have occurred in “tight-knit communities.”

What are some of the communities the article identified? What are some factors that could explain why measles outbreaks have occurred among the groups? What, if anything, do you think should be or could be done to share information about vaccinations with members of those communities? Why do you say that?

Related: Our Student Opinion question from March 2019, Should All Children Be Vaccinated?

Word + Quiz: appliqué

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Word + Quiz: appliqué

noun: a decorative design made of one material sewn over another

verb: sew on as a decoration

_________

The word appliqué has appeared in 36 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Dec. 5 in “In Ireland, Making Lace for the Love of It” by Sandra Jordan:

To make the veil, Ms. Daly tacked a paper pattern onto a layer of organdy and a layer of net, the veil’s body. To outline flowers and leaves, she used an appliqué technique, holding a cotton thread in place on the patterns and sewing tiny, close stitches across it, through the entire paper-fabric sandwich. She then selected from among the 15 stitches used by Carrickmacross makers to fill in the outlines.

Finally, Ms. Daly carefully cut away the paper pattern and any unwanted organdy, revealing the design on the net.

Knowing her lace, Rebecca also had requested some guipure openwork. That involved cutting the net out of the center of an appliquéd outline and creating a delicate lattice of stitches across the gap so there was, as Ms. Daly said, “nothing in between them but daylight.”

_________

Where Would You Visit To Find Out More About Your Family’s Past?

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Where Would You Visit To Find Out More About Your Family’s Past?

Have you ever traveled to the places where your ancestors were originally from? Have you ever dreamed of doing so? What would you want to see, find or learn from such a trip?

What do you already know about your family’s heritage? Do you feel connected to your ancestral roots? Or do you feel distant or cut off from them?

In “The Trip I Hope All African-Americans Can Take,” Mercedes Bent writes about a trip she took to West Africa to learn more about her ancestral heritage:

At a naming ceremony in the home of my host family in Lagos, Nigeria, I wore brightly colored traditional clothing — a long, rectangular skirt tied tightly around my waist and an off-the-shoulder top with short, flared cuffs, all in a pink ankara pattern with a matching head wrap.

“Please stand,” said my host, who had graciously offered to tailor the ceremony — which is normally performed for babies — for me, her adult visitor from the United States. “I hereby give you the name Esosa; it means ‘God’s gift.’ You are now Esosa Oloke. Welcome to the family. You will always have a family here in Nigeria.”

I felt a surge of gratitude and belonging. For the first time in my life, I felt deeply connected to the African continent and to the people who live there.

The ceremony concluded a 10-day trip to Nigeria and Ghana this year, Ghana’s Year of the Return, that I organized for friends and classmates. To commemorate the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to English North America in 1619, President Nana Akufo-Addo has encouraged descendants of Africans who were enslaved in the Americas to return to the country.

But my idea for a heritage-focused trip had been in the making for over a decade. The seeds were planted during my freshman year of college. At the first meeting of the Association of Black Harvard Women, several of the people who introduced themselves had names with African origins. I still remember my classmate Adora Izukanane Obianuju explaining that her middle name was chosen as a reminder of her place in the family and the bond her mother hoped she would have with her siblings.

Then it was my turn. “Hi, I’m Mercedes Bent. My name … well, it’s kind of like the car.”

It’s not that I don’t like my name — I do. I just wished I had a more intimate connection with my heritage.

The Opinion essay continues:

This year, I finally organized a trip for a group of my black friends and classmates and me to explore our own heritage. On that trip I learned to cook jollof, a rice dish that is a staple of West African diets. I learned about investment opportunities in Nigeria, including cashew farms and start-ups. I had my hair braided. I visited castles where enslaved people were kept in dungeons before they exited through the door of no return. We discussed Nigerian history over dinner and learned about the political turmoil and wealth of the country. One day in Accra, Ghana, we attended Afrochella, a Coachella-inspired festival featuring top African musical artists.

Through it all I reflected on what life would be like if I lived in a nation where I was part of the dominant racial group. In Nigeria or Ghana, I would be one drop in the sea of black people at every event I attended and in every social situation. I wouldn’t be subjected to as many off-color remarks and subtly bigoted insults. I wouldn’t have to question whether I should respond to those or stay quiet to avoid being judged through the lens of racist stereotypes. I wouldn’t wonder whether people would think I’d been hired as a token rather than for my potential.

The essay concludes:

Of course, not everyone can afford such a trip. I would love to see a philanthropist or foundation fund educational trips to Ghana, Nigeria and other African countries for black young adults from other parts of the diaspora, making this experience accessible to more people who could benefit from it as much as I did.

Until then I’ll continue spreading the word about the benefits I experienced, the power of exploring my ethnic-racial identity in the place where my ancestors lived and the most important lesson I learned on my journey: It really is possible to heal through heritage.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

— Where would you visit to find out more about your family’s past? What would you hope to learn or experience?

— How familiar are you with your family’s history? Does living in America ever make you feel disconnected from your family and cultural roots? Do you ever wish, like Ms. Bent, that you had a “more intimate connection” with your heritage? If yes, tell us why.

— Ms. Bent writes:

There are many ways to nurture a healthy cultural identity, but a journey “home” — to a place that makes you feel that you truly belong — is an especially effective one.

Do you agree? What aspects of her essay resonate with you most? Does reading Ms. Bent’s piece make you want to connect more with your own heritage?

— Have you ever created a family tree? If inspired, create a family tree and then try to plot where your ancestors lived on a map of the globe. (You can find free downloadable family tree templates here.)

Further Resources:

Why You Should Dig Up Your Family’s History — and How to Do It

Advice on How to Research Family History, Part 1

Learning With: ‘From Clay Tablets to Smartphones: 5,000 Years of Writing’

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Learning With: ‘From Clay Tablets to Smartphones: 5,000 Years of Writing’

6. The author writes:

The slow abatement of handwriting today feels like the severing of a historical tie. It relates us to the Mesopotamians, to Chaucer, to that struggling Egyptian student. Finland, for instance, has dropped its handwriting requirements in schools in favor of typing lessons. In the United States, in 2010, Common Core standards excluded cursive requirements in elementary schools, and most states no longer require students to learn it. (In some, however, there are signs of a cursive comeback.)

Do you agree that the decreasing role of handwriting is an important loss? How much do you write by hand? Which method of writing do you prefer and why?

Finally, tell us more about what you think:

— What did you learn about writing from the article? Does it make you more fully appreciate writing?

— Which historical object from the exhibition is most fascinating to you? If you had to curate the same exhibition but could only include five objects, what would they be and why?

— What are your experiences with writing? Are they mostly positive or negative? What do you like to write about, and why? Do you like to write in a journal, or a blog? Do you like to write poems, stories or songs? Do you think you are a good writer? Which of your own writing are you most proud of?

— Where would you rank writing on the list of human achievements? Look through these lists of human achievements (here and here), and then create your own “Top 10.” Justify your ranking for the invention of writing (whether it makes your top 10 or not).

— The article concludes:

Will the historical cycle of doubting writing before it proves itself again continue? On the one hand, we should have faith: Writing has resurged time and again. On the other, technology is advancing at a pace like never before. Will the future of written expression become so simple — a smattering of autocompleted sentences, emoji and GIFs — that it will lack any critical thought at all?

“I certainly do not expect writing to go away,” said Mr. Bostrom, of Oxford. At least, he added coyly, not within “the finite period of time remaining before machine intelligence makes human intelligence irrelevant.”

Do you think the future of writing is in danger? Will we one day give up pencils, pens and keyboards for videos and voice messages? What would be lost for us as a society and as individuals if writing were to disappear?

— Imagine you are curating an exhibition on human communication in the year 7,019. Will writing still exist then? What do you think will be the primary mode of human communication?

Further Resources:

I Didn’t Write This Column. I Spoke It.

Handwriting Just Doesn’t Matter

Has the Electronic Image Supplanted the Written Word?

This Is Your Brain on Writing

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