Towards the end of the investigation the forensic accountant will prepare a report for the client. These
reports can be written or delivered orally based on the client’s request. While written reports contain
high levels of detail, the oral report provides a summary of the information. The client might prefer an
oral report if they are concerned with discovery issues or legal privilege (Driskell, 2019). Additionally,
written reports are expensive and time consuming, while oral reports can be prepared quickly.
Regardless of whether the client wants a written or oral report, the expert’s opinion must be stated in a
legally sufficient manner, and needs to be based on reliable facts, data, and methodology (Rufus et al,
2015). Forensic accountants may be asked to present their investigation findings orally and should be
cautious when asked, as verbal information can be misinterpreted and misrepresented. A client's
motivation for a forensic accounting oral report may be confidentiality, secrecy, cost, or competitive
advantage. (Rufus, Miller, Hahn, 2014). According to (The Fraud Files Blog, 2018), "An oral report is
not the most common way to report on the findings of a fraud investigation." However, in some
instances, legal counsel does not want a "discoverable" report in the case file.
A likely scenario that may put a forensic accountant's credibility and career at risk would be a client or
lawyer's misrepresentation or misconstrued information requiring a forensic accountant's
confirmation, expert opinion, or testimony resulting in a conflict. (Rufus, Miller, Hahn, 2014).
A forensic accountant can avoid precarious situations by "preparing a written pre-report outline,
followed by a memo-to-file." (Rufus, Miller, Hahn, 2014) The oral presentation documentation should
include essential details regarding the engagement, scope, assumptions, limitations, and findings,
including "preliminary or estimated numbers." (Rufus, Miller, Hahn, 2014)
As a forensic accountant one can have situations in which a client requests to have an oral report rather
than a written report, which can create some issues, as this will require one to assess the client’s
motivation behind the request because there is the risk that, “the information being relayed in the oral
report may be misunderstood by the recipient and later misrepresented to others, either intentionally,
or unintentionally” (Rufus et al., 2015, 379). Therefore, there can be instances in which the client
would want a more condensed and direct version of the case, due to possibility of availability or time
constraints. “Oral reports can be prepared quickly, but only offer summary information,” but can be
beneficial when clients, “are concerned with legal privilege and discovery issues—if there is no report,
no report can be produced” (Driskel III, 2019, 7). There could be a case in which sensitive information
was discovered and the disclosure in a written scenario can result in a disadvantageous position if the
information were to give the client a competitive advantage in the courts. If one were to gather direct
evidence being provided by a whistleblower, oral reports may be necessary in order to protect
anonymity of the individual providing the direct evidence. Therefore to avoid any setbacks, one
would, “recommend that forensic accountants prepare a written prereport outline, followed by a memo
to file documenting the substance of the oral report,” which, “should contain all necessary information
about the engagement, including the scope, assumptions, limitations and results” (Rufus et al., 2015,
379).
In an engagement, the forensic accountant must communicate their results and opinions in a report.
Regardless of the format of the report, whether it’s written or oral, it must be based on reliable facts
and data. Rufus et al. (2014) states that an oral report is verbal and there is no written documentation.
Although this format may be easy and preferred by the engaging attorney, the information can be
easily misunderstood and misrepresented to other individuals later on (Rufus et al., 2014). Because of
the nature of oral reporting, it’s important to consider the motivation behind a client requesting an oral
report. Motivation can vary, including confidentiality, competitive advantage, secrecy, or cost (Rufus
et al., 2014). By understanding the reasons why a client wants an oral report, a forensic accountant can
protect themselves from potential risks. The reason may be as innocent as the client wanting to save
money. An oral report can be done quickly compared to a written report which may take more time for
a forensic accountant to put together. Or it could be that the client is hiding something. If the client is
intentionally being secretive about something and not wanting it documented, then this is a red-flag
and the forensic accountant may not want to engage.
To avoid these types of risks, the forensic accountant should prepare a pre-report outline and also a
memo-to-file which documents the oral report material (Rufus et al., 2014).
While written reports are the most frequent type of report provided by investigators to clients,
sometimes and oral report is appropriate as well. An oral report contains no written documentation.
Sometimes, an oral report is followed up with, or preceded by, a written report. The biggest drawback
of an oral report only is client understanding. Without reference material to go back to, or solid written
data, it can be hard to ensure the client heard the information as you intend (Law Offices of Judith A.
Rosenberg, n.d.). In my opinion, the request of an oral only report would send up some red flags. Is the
client trying to avoid legal ramifications? Cover something up? Some of my concern would be
dissipated depending on the point at which the oral report was requested, such as an interim report or
in the case of a necessary emergency action. An oral report could also be requested to protect legal
strategy from being disclosed.
I don't even like to discuss important matters over the telephone without an email follow up to
documents what was discussed. It not only has the potential to clear up miscommuications, but it
provides a paper trail for me if I am ever misrepresented. I can't imagine being a forensic accountant
and relying solely on an oral report. The only situation I think that I would be comfortable with that is
if an emergency action needed to take place quickly and I had an overwheleming amount of evidence
in support of my position.
In most situations, a forensic accountant will provide a written report to a client. In some cases, clients
may request an oral report. Before providing an oral report, it is important for the forensic accountant
to consider why it is being requested. While an oral report may be able to be provided faster than a
written report there can be ramifications for both the employer and the forensic accountant. A large
risk to oral reports is that nothing is written for future reference. A client may not correctly hear or
understand the information that is being provided. In other cases, the client may choose to say they
never were told part of an investigation. This is considered “selective hearing” or “selective memory”.
One reason an employer may want an oral report and then deny information was provided is if the
“…employer did not want to fully investigate the complaint, because the acts were so bad that the
employer did not want to have them documented, or because the employer was trying to suppress
information” (Rosenberg, 2010). If or when the issues are brought to court, there would be no physical
evidence showing that the compliant was brought up in the investigation. This is why it recommended
to at a minimum have back up evidence and a summary of what was reported. “The key to a good
report, oral or written, is clear documentation and analysis, along with a detailed description of the
work performed and the investigator's conclusions” (Rosenberg, 2010).
References
Rosenberg, J. A. (2010, July). Written Report? Oral Report? What’s an Investigator to Do?
Retrieved April 2, 2023 from http://judithrosenberg.com/articles/caowi_1_3.html
Written report? oral report? what's an investigator to do? Law Office of Judith A. Rosenberg. (n.d.).
Retrieved March 26, 2023, from http://judithrosenberg.com/articles/caowi_1_3.html
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2014). Forensic accounting. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
Driskel III, D. (2019). Conducting Forensic Accounting and Internal Investigations. Willamete.com. 1-
10. z z z https://willamette.com/insights_journal/19/autumn_2019_1.pdf
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic Accounting. Pearson Education, Inc.
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2014). Forensic accounting. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
The Fraud Investigation Report. Fraud Files Forensic Accounting Blog. (2018, June 3). Retrieved
March 30, 2023, from https://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2018/06/the-fraud-investigation-
report/
Driskell III, Dean. (2019). Conducting Forensic Accounting and Internal Investigations.
https://willamette.com/insights_journal/19/autumn_2019_1.pdf
Rufus, R., Miller, L., Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic Accounting. Pearson Education.
