"Until recently, when I told someone I was a forensic accountant, they immediately thought of dead bodies," Kernion Schafer told me recently. With the financial troubles of Enron, WorldCom, Sarbanes, Oxley and many other companies so prominently in the news lately, people are much more aware of what forensic accountants actually do. Schafer said his firm offers a much needed service to attorneys by providing reports on valuation of stock, loss of income, fraud audits, construction audits, loss of income claims, domestic settlements as well as many other financial disputes. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFF) attributes the hot status of forensic accounting to the litigation environments, the wave of accounting fraud, increasing public expectations and an awareness on the part of CPAs that they can profit by offering fraud-related services.

Schafer said, "I have been doing Forensic ccounting for years. It is only now that the public as become increasingly aware and informed about that it actually is. Forensic accounting received much media coverage during the O.J. Simpson trial in terms of tracking his assets. I'm not sure that there is actually more fraud today, but just a more heightened sensitivity to what's been going on all along."

Schafer's seven years as Agent and Manager of the Internal Revenue Service, three years teaching accounting at Loyola University and 29 years as a working CPA, with a Master of Science in Accounting, has earned him the position of Life Fellow in the American College of Forensic Examiners

When asked to explain forensic accounting, Schafer responded, "It relates to any accounting for courtroom purposes such as valuation for divorce, bankruptcy, fraud, business disputes, valuation of busines construction, valuation of estates, loss of income, liquidation, fraud in insurance claims as well as many other areas." We uncover hidden assets that a regular CPA may overlook. While all CPAs do not make good forensic accountants, it takes tenacity and an inquisitive mind. Though the signs of fraud are often subtle and hidden, a good forensic accountant must be able to think and look outside the box. Schafer said, "I am a very aggressive, competitive and inquisitive person and this gives me the edge needed in this special area of accounting. When on the stand testifying, a forensic accountant must be competent, self assured and professional and willing to be scrutinized upon cross examination."

Since most of Schafer's work comes from attorneys and referrals by attorneys, he is prohibited from discussing individual cases by attorney/client protection.