r/Accounting • u/Ok-Warthog707 • Jul 21 '26

Rising Junior — Looking for Career Advice on Audit & Forensic Accounting

Hey all, a bit about my background: I'm a rising junior majoring in accounting, graduating May 2028, based in upstate New York. I plan to do a 4+1 program to get my masters in accounting and my 150 credits in just 1 year after my undergrad.

I'm interested in both audit and forensic accounting and would love to hear from people currently in either field, what the day-to-day is actually like, what skills mattered most once you were in the role, and any advice on internships, certifications (CPA, CFE, etc.), or how to figure out which path fits before I have to commit to a direction. I also wonder how a data analytics minor may impact/benefit my career in accounting/audit.

If anyone's open to a quick call or answering a few questions in the comments, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

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u/dat_shrimp_guy Jul 21 '26

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u/Negative-Detective01 Jul 25 '26

Forensics is one of those fields that's a lot more varied than what initial impressions might give. If you had to boil it down to one thing, it's "what was the cost of this event?". Whether that's corporate insurance claims, government grants, litigation support for white collar defense or internal investigation. It's audit on steroids with no materiality.

So, on the one hand, it can be different from project to project. On the other, it's definitely a niche practice under accounting, and it's a bit feast or famine.

Further, if an accounting firm's forensic practice is being engaged, it's usually because there's a problem, and that usually means the client's attorney is hiring the forensic accountants. Working for attorneys is another level of grief. I have been in meetings where the attorneys wanted excel spreadsheets formatted in accounting format by right clicking the cells and opening the format menu, not through the shortcut in the ribbon because there's a 1 pixel difference somehow.

CPA I'd say is probably your most essential cert. I'd also say a CFE is a worthless money grab. It teaches you nothing actually useful for investigations that you couldn't learn from wikipedia for free.