Based on the reading, a successful forensic accountant needs to have the following
characteristics: Critical thinking, reasoning, and communication (Rufus, 2015, pg. 8). Critical
thinking has had its definition refined and changed over the years, but the most accepted
tenets of critical thinking is being able to have active and careful consideration for the
available information and based off this information and past observations and experiences,
influence decision making and take action. Reasoning is “a problem-solving skill that
involves drawing inferences or conclusions from known or assumed facts. Reasoning is
closely associated with critical thinking in that it is a rational process of attempting to
understand an event or behavior (Rufus, 2015, pg. 10) There are things such as deductive
reasoning which goes from the general to the specific. For the most part, the conclusions
reached from deductive reasoning imply 100% confidence. Inductive reasoning is slightly
different. It essentially takes an observable pattern and it is used to provide a general
conclusion. Communication is the final essential skill. In many cases, the forensic accountant
will be speaking with an audience that will probably not understand much of the terminology
and process. Therefore, it is important to know how to convey the information in the most
effective and clear way possible. In my field, critical thinking and reasoning are perhaps the
most important parts of the process. As an auditor, I need to use my judgement and reasoning
based on deep analysis and previous experience to understand whether certain portions of the
accounting process were done correctly or incorrectly. And if done incorrectly, I need to use
good judgement to determine whether the error was a mistake or something more sinister. I
look forward to learning more in this class.
References
• Rufus, R. J., Miller, L. S., & Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic accounting. Pearson.
