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? a a a Retrieved April 2, 2023 from
http://judithrosenberg.com/articles/caowi_1_3.html
