Forensic Accounting in Law Enforcement In films you always see the Special Forces FBI agents portrayed as handsome, leading men, while the computer geeks stay inside with their glasses and their calculators computing how much time there is until the end of the world. As you might have guessed, this is not really the case in real life. Those computer geeks are actually forensic accountants, trained to track numbers to bust criminals for stealing enormous sums of money. The Special Forces agents may be the ones physically busting the criminals, but they wouldn’t know who to bust if it weren’t for the forensic accountants tracing the numbers and the money. Becoming one of these agents isn’t easy, but is worth it in the end. Today, the forensic accounting team makes up 15 percent of the FBI agents, and here’s how you can become one of them First, you have to study math as much as you can starting from a young age. If possible, take as many advanced math and computer in high school as you can. Then pursue a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. You will want to major in either that or forensic accounting if the major is available. They will teach you the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that will be necessary to know for any accounting position.
Starting Your Career After you graduate, you will have to take ethics courses, the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, a best practices exam for your state, an oath, and work supervised for a defined period of time in order to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). This process typically takes a year and can be done while simultaneously working. At this point you have a degree and work experience, but now you need to specialize in forensic accounting. You can either apply for government jobs or pursue a master’s degree in forensic accounting or business administration with a focus in forensic accounting. Now that you are a truly certified public accountant and have a degree in forensic accounting, it’s time to become a certified forensic accountant by taking either the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) exam or the American College of Forensic Examiners International (ACFEI). Now that you have passed all of these exams, you can list all of your degrees, titles, and experience on a comprehensive resume that you will give to as many potential employers as possible. Hopefully at this point you have honed your skills as both an accountant and a researcher.
Make the Most of It Throughout your education, try to make as many contacts as possible within the realm you are pursuing. This way you will have more people to contact when you are trying to get a job or even an internship. If you are looking to become a certified forensic accountant there are degrees such as business and finance in Cheyenne. These programs are great starts to a career in the FBI or CIA. You could become one of the force’s special agents that trace numbers and money to find the culprits that are creating injustice for the world.