Archive for September, 2009
September 10th, 2009 | 
Author: Forensic Accounting: Investigation of Fraud and Criminal Activity in the Modern Business World
Alarming sums of money are stolen from businesses each year by trusted employees. It is estimated that in 2008, at least Billion will be lost by businesses as a result of fraudulent activities. Surprisingly, smaller companies suffer the majority of the losses. This is due to their lack of funds to implement preventative procedures in concert with a generally stronger trust and more personal relationship with employees. In order to prosecute those responsible for these crimes, it is important to understand the path leading to the fraud.
Forensic accounting is a rapidly expanding field involving careful investigative work, in depth financial analysis and an understanding of the legal system. Forensic accountants must think on their feet and work side-by-side with law enforcement personnel in order to solve the puzzles surrounding fraud cases. Frequently they are required to testify in court as expert witnesses and provide key evidence leading to convictions. Evidence is gathered from books and other records including computers, hard drives, and email correspondence and computer records. It is then carefully traced back to where the problem first began. Forensic accountants act as detectives, lawyers, CPA’s and scientists. These professionals often have highly developed deductive reasoning skills, familiarity with legal procedures, good writing skills and excellent public speaking skills. They have the responsibility of convincing a judge and jury that the evidence they have gathered is solid. Forensic accounting played a large role in convicting Al Capone for tax evasion. It also figured prominently in exposing the Enron and WorldCom scandals.
As technology improves and the amount of money stolen from companies and corporations grows, the demand for forensic accountants has grown rapidly. Considered to be one of the fastest growing accounting jobs, it is predicted that this profession will be among the top twenty in the next few years. Schools have begun to offer programs in this field to help meet the strong and ever increasing demand for forensic accountants.
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How To Choose The Right Stock Analysis Software
Stock analysis software works a lot like technical analysis software, it’s a program that helps you manage and control your money that you have invested in stock.
There are many different kinds of stock analysis software out there and some can cost your thousands of dollars. Here are some things to take into account when looking to purchase stock analysis software.
One must consider how many chart types are inserted in the stock analysis software you are browsing. The more expensive the software, the more chart options it will have. The top of the line stock analysis software allows you the ability to create your own unique chart types. The most common charts found in stock analysis software are as followed:
Line Chart: basic chart type is a single point plot of the securities price.
Bar Chart: most popular method of plotting a security price. A bar chart provides a plot of each price unit (open, high, low and close) for each period.
Candlestick chart: plot of the security price using all the four price points (open, high, low and close)
Maybe the most important thing to consider is what kind of data base the stock analysis software you are browsing uses. This is because if the data base is weak or unsupported, your information falls under high risk. Surprisingly, some the less expensive and smaller data bases do a better job of creating a solid data base.
Related to the last paragraph, one should consider whether archived data is available with your data base when looking for efficient stock analysis software. A data base should go back five years, at the very minimum. When you are in the stock market, one of the most important tools you have is the ability to look up past trends and occurrences.
When it comes to choosing the right stock analysis software, we have one more data-related thing to think about. Make sure that your stock analysis software of choice allows you to manually update the price data (most programs these do however).