Strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting: an implication on the socio-economic development

Hashem Alshurafat,Ebrahim Mansour,Mohannad Obeid Al Shbail

doi:10.1108/jbsed-03-2021-0026

Hashem Alshurafat, Ebrahim Mansour + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/jbsed-03-2021-0026

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Abstract

PurposeThis review aims to provide an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting education and profession.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews published forensic accounting studies to explore forensic accounting strengths and weaknesses.FindingsThe strengths of forensic accounting are its benefits to students and accounting professionals, the significant need and increasing demand, the new career channels and the reduction of fraud. The weakness factors are the lack of regulation, the lack of control over the profession entry, the lack of agreement on how to teach forensic accounting, the lack of specialized research journals, the misconception of its intrinsic aim, the lack of highly qualified practitioners and educators and the lack of public recognition and occupation reputation.Practical implicationsIt is hoped that this structured investigation of the factors relevant to the current and future status of forensic accounting education and profession will provide a sufficient overview of the critical issues and concerns that are important to be known for understanding and advancing the vital application of forensic accounting on the Socio-Economic Development. It is anticipated that this paper has an impact on future policy that ultimately contributes to improving business and limit fraud incidents, thus, it can contribute to business and socio-economic development.Originality/valueThe literature on forensic accounting is extensive and varied. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting. This study provided policymakers with a comprehensive understanding of forensic accounting.

Highlights

The endeavors to improve forensic accounting education and profession have been associated with different levels of support and failure
There is an overlap between some services that forensic accounting provides, the vast majority of research in the forensic accounting area have classified the services offered by forensic accountants into four main categories, which are litigation services (Heitger and Heitger, 2008), fraud investigation (Louwers, 2015; Van Akkeren and Buckby, 2015), computer forensic analysis (Pearson and Singleton, 2008) and business valuation (DiGabriele and Lohrey, 2016)
The main objective of this paper is to provide an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting education and profession based on the literature in this area

Summary

Introduction

The endeavors to improve forensic accounting education and profession have been associated with different levels of support and failure Keywords Forensic accounting, Strengths and weaknesses, Education and profession The previous studies lack a full understanding of the benefits from and obstacles to adopt and foster forensic accounting education and profession. This paper generates an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of forensic accounting based on the evidence that was collected from a literature review method.

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