Forensic and Valuation Services on the Rise

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by the AICPA Forensic and Valuation Services Section.

Forensic and valuation services have long been considered hot practice areas, and there is now convincing evidence to support this idea. A new AICPA Forensic and Valuation Services Section study of professionals working in this niche found strong demand for these services.

Trends in FVS segments

The survey offered numerous insights into trends in various segments of this niche, including:

• Computer forensic investigations was a robust area, with 83 percent of respondents expecting greater demand in the next two to five years, with a mean anticipated increase of 20 percent.
• Among those who handled divorce cases, roughly half had seen demand spike in the past year.
• A total of 53 percent expected more prepackaged bankruptcies in the next two to five years.
• Among economic damages engagements, the greatest demand was expected in cases involving breaches of contract, business torts, and intellectual property.
• When it came to financial statement misrepresentation, respondents expected a strong focus in engagements on revenue recognition and valuation of assets carried at fair value.
• Slightly more than half foresaw rising demand for outside consultants vs. in-house staff in the next two to five years from companies looking to prevent or detect fraud. The most commonly reported frauds included false payment requests, check and credit card fraud, and employee theft.
• For valuation professionals, the areas with greatest peaks in demand within the past year included shareholder/partner disputes, contractual disputes, family law, and gift and estate issues. In the next two to five years, respondents expect higher demand for a variety of services, including shareholder/partner disputes; family law; contractual disputes; and bankruptcy, insolvency, and reorganization.

For the complete article, read “Continuing strong demand expected for forensic and evaluation services.”

From AICPA CPA Insider, May 21, 2012, http://www.CPA2biz.com.