Forensic Accountants Piece Together the ‘Electronic Environment’ for Bankers and CPAs

Software programs can rebuild databases from accounting systems to help forensic accountants perform investigative work, two experts told a group of CPAs in October.

Michael Bleich and Paul M. Ribaudo, CPAs and managers with the New York state accounting and advisory firm David Berdon & Company LLP, were guest speakers at the New York State Society of CPAs Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee fall breakfast on Oct. 18, 2001, at the Yale Club in New York City.

The duo spoke on “Forensic Accounting and the Banking Community: How Today’s Electronic Environment Enhances the Capabilities of Forensic Accountants.”

Bleich and Ribaudo provided a background on combining the skills of an investigator with the expertise of an accountant when performing forensic accounting engagements. They spoke about specialized software used to rebuild databases of information from accounting systems and to sort information in various manners, enhancing the forensic accountant’s ability to perform his or her investigative work.

Bleich and Ribaudo also presented several case studies from prior forensic accounting engagements to reflect the usefulness of these services during litigation cases as well as to the banking community when problems arise with businesses not meeting loan provisions or covenants.

The event drew approximately 55 CPAs and bankers as well as several members of the press, including representatives from the Practical Accountant and Financial Planning. The breakfast is one of the many networking events sponsored during the year by this committee, currently chaired by Gerald Whitehorn of Frendel Brown & Weissman CPAs, to develop relationships between bankers, factors and accountants. To learn more about the committee or to join its mailing list, contact NYSSCPA Committee Manager Nereida Gomez at (212) 719-8358, (800) NYSSCPA (697-7272) or ngomez@nysscpa.org.