Forensic Accountant Skills: An Empirical Investigation in the Malaysian Forensic Accounting Education Curriculum

Existing forensic accounting graduates in developing countries that practice the current forensic accounting curriculum showed lack of knowledge, skills and abilities in fraud detection and prevention as compared to graduates in developed countries. The Accounting curricular should provide students with the basic theoretical framework for understanding Audit Investigation, Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting and, simultaneously, provide students with knowledge and techniques. Currently, Universities do not include suitable syllabus that meet the requirement of forensic accounting firms. Therefore, matching expectations of employers and suitable curricular content for the development of forensic accountant knowledge and skills are crucial. Thus, coverage of forensic accounting syllabus and the quality of forensic accountant practitioner becomes an issue. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between forensic accounting course and forensic accountant skills. A total of 96 individuals completed the questionnaire that was used for the analysis adapted mainly from the course outcome of Forensic Accounting and Financial Criminology Master’s degree programme in one of the public universities in Malaysia. The result of this study indicated that auditing courses have no significant relationship towards forensic accountant skills despite having positive relationship, whilst fraud examination courses and forensic accounting courses have significant positive relationship towards forensic accountant skills. The results of this study should aid in setting the future direction and the role of forensic accounting practices and education. Forensic accounting education plays a vital role in preparing forensic accountant for the working world.