A Forensic Accounting Expert Witness plays a key role in court cases that require specialist knowledge and expertise of financial transactions, business operations and performance, personal financial affairs and taxation helping the court to understand often complex financial issues and assist in reaching an informed decision.

What can a forensic accounting expert help with?

• The loss of earnings in a personal injury or negligence claim
• Loss of profits of an owner managed business as a result of an injury
• Future losses in the event of continuing loss
• Loss of capital value of a business following a loss
• Loss of profits a business has suffered as a result of a business interruption
• The effect of taxation on loss of profits or income
• The value of a business in a divorce
• The tax effects of disposing of a business or a shareholding in a divorce
• Assessment of earnings of contributing parent in Child Maintenance Services claims and appeals
• Tracing personal financial assets
• Tracking movements of funds in fraud cases
• Assessing benefit under Proceeds of Crime Act

A forensic accounting expert will incorporate his findings and opinions in an expert witness report in a manner which is understandable and helpful to the court and which complies with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules and the Part 35 Practice Direction.

The report may explain:

• How the performance of a business has been affected following an injury to a principal of the business
• How a self employed person’s earnings have been affected after an accident
• How the future earnings or profits have been affected by an accident
• How a business’s financial position has been affected by say a fire or storm damage
• What the effect of personal, corporation or capital gains tax is on loss of earnings or profits
• What the value is of a person’s shareholdings in a company for divorce settlements and what the tax effects would be of selling
• What a contributing parent’s true earnings are for assessing maintenance under the Child Maintenance Services
• What happened to money suspected of being stolen or obtained by fraud
• Whether a convicted person benefited from crime under the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act

What particular skills does a forensic accounting expert have?

A forensic accounting expert has a combination of business experience and technical accounting skills which enables them to identify the key issues in a case; undertake the detailed analysis necessary and explain its significance to the court.

considering questions such as:

• Was the business growing, declining or static?
• What other factors were involved – e.g Covid, Brexit?
• What has been the performance of similar businesses?
• What was the value of similar businesses?
• What is the best way to value the business?
• Is the movement of funds between accounts explained by known facts and of a nature and scale that would be expected?
• Does an individual have earnings which from other identifiable sources?
• What are accepted accounting principles and have these been applied?