The board of the Alliance for Excellence in Investigative and Forensic Accounting has released a discussion paper proposing standards in investigative and forensic accounting for comment.

The Alliance is the body of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants that designates chartered accountants specializing in investigative and forensic accounting as CA·IFAs. The Alliance was formed to set a benchmark for CAs who specialize in this field and to establish standards for investigative and forensic accounting practice.

CA·IFAs practice in areas such as fraud investigation, preparation of evidence for court, and economic loss quantification, including: investigating and analyzing financial evidence; testifying as expert witnesses; becoming involved in criminal investigations and uncovering financial evidence in employee or insurance fraud cases; and, investigating in the rapidly evolving area of computer and Internet fraud.

The board is seeking comments on proposed standards by January 31, 2002. Once it has received comments from CA·IFAs and other interested parties, the Alliance’s standards committee will commence developing investigative and forensic accounting standards.