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).
References
Driskel III, D. (2019). Conducting Forensic Accounting and Internal Investigations.
Willamete.com. 1-10. https://willamette.com/insights_journal/19/autumn_2019_1.pdf
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic Accounting. Pearson Education, Inc.
