Forensic Accounting (Distance Learning)

Course Structure

1. Financial Analysis and Modelling: You will gain a critical awareness of the financial environment from both an accounting and finance perspective. You will learn to understand, analyse and interpret company reports, examine the role of the regulatory framework for corporate reporting and the stock market, and explore the pricing of securities. You will also cover the key areas of decision and risk analysis, alongside the process of decision making, key statistical concepts, and selecting and using appropriate analytical software tools as aids to decision making.
2. Expert Witnessing and Dispute Resolution: You will be able to examine the full range of formal and informal methods for dispute resolution within common law, and civil and criminal legal systems, whilst also developing an understanding of the legal and practical protocols alongside the procedural knowledge and etiquette governing the appointment and testimony of expert witnesses. You will also develop a clear understanding of the legal basis and critical elements required to construct an expert report for submission in civil and criminal proceedings.
3. Financial Forensics and Investigation: You will gain an understanding of the need for an holistic approach in the investigatory models applied so that you can develop a critical, questioning and evaluative approach in assessing financial data. You will consider the primary evidential elements with a particular emphasis on gathering information from interviews and examining key issues and innovative approaches.
4. Financial Crime and the Law: You will focus on an appreciation and understanding of the wide variety of financial crime and how the current regulatory framework and crime control statutes have developed to deal with them. Features of corporate integrity and management control systems will additionally instil an understanding of the development and needs of corporate governance in the context of the control theories of the firm.
5. Dissertation: This is a 15,000-word research project that combines a review of previous research undertaken in your chosen topic with your own data collection and analysis. This provides a unique opportunity for you to demonstrate the subject knowledge you have acquired, as well as your analytical abilities and problem-solving skills which are highly regarded by potential employers. During this phase, your research will be supervised by an experienced academic with expertise in your chosen topic area.