I also have a full time job working as an Accounting Manager for a nonprofit organization
in Chicago that provides all kinds of services dealing with mental health, substance abuse,
youth violence prevention and other valuable services to primarily disadvantaged
neighborhoods in the city. Taking this course will help strengthen my skills and
knowledge from the forensic accounting perspective, which can allow for a better
understanding of any financial or compliance obligations and help develop better detection
and prevention measures for any potential audit red flags that can result in fraud or
inefficiency. Our organization deals with different entities such as the government at a
federal and state level in order to fund the needed services in these communities and any
material errors made from our end can potentially endanger the service from being
conducted any further. Attaining further skills on forensic accounting will increase my
analytical skills necessary to maintain the questioning mindset of a forensic accountant,
which, “incorporates mental processes that dictate how you respond to situations or
challenges” through potential changes in your observations that include: “what you see
and how you see it, questions you ask, judgments you form and decisions you make”
(Rufus et al., 2015, 3-4).
a a In this week’s discussion I will highlight how the readings help characterize my
current profession as an Accounting Manager for a nonprofit organization and explain the
forensic accounting skills that can enhance my capabilities, which vary from traditional
accounting. A forensic accounting skill that can aid others in this same field in nonprofit
organizations is the use of critical thinking, which aims to maintain the integrity of the
scientific process and thereby allow these organizations to remain funded. This skill is
necessary to be a successful forensic account, as it can allow one to detect any, “threats to
the integrity of the process,” through manifestations of blind spots that, “are caused by
mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, biases, distortions, and self-interest” (Rufus et
al., 2015, 10). These blind spots can be concerning for those working in nonprofit
organizations as now more than ever, as they face external pressures to remain funded and
potentially lead to manipulation of financial statements to receive or remain funded and
sustainable at all costs. Applying forensic accounting can potentially provide further
insight into the nonprofit sector by providing, “a deeper analysis of how individual
managers’ characteristics affect financial decisions,” and, “investigate how decision
makers behave in a setting where stakeholder demands are conflicting” (Schubert &
References
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2015). Forensic Accounting. Pearson Education, Inc.
Schubert, P., & Boenigk, S. (2021). Pressure, Cost Accounting, and Resource Allocations:
Experimental Evidence on Nonprofit Financial Decision-Making. Nonprofit & Voluntary
Sector Quarterly, 50(6), 1216–1238.
