Hallam students discovered varied roles of forensic accountants at a special event at the Sheffield Business School

Press contact: Greg Mattocks-Evans | g.mattocks-evans@shu.ac.uk

The Forensic Day event was led by professional accountant Peter Whittam, a forensic accountant with more than 20 years of experience, who now works for the Fraud Investigation Service as part of HMRC.

In sessions with undergraduate and master’s students, Peter outlined the skills and day-to-day role of a forensic accountant and set challenging case studies for the students to work through, based on real-life cases Peter had worked on.

Peter said: “Forensic accounting requires you to be professionally sceptical. You have to dig down into the nitty gritty of accounting records and clearly communicate your findings, sometimes in a courtroom in the role of an expert witness.”

The sessions included examples of areas of work that forensic accountants encounter including personal injury claims, commercial disputes and matrimonial disputes.

Senior lecturer in forensic accounting, Jo Winfield said: “Opportunities like this to learn from real life forensic accountants are highly valuable as it gives students a chance to see how their learning can be applied in real life situations.”

Dr Rob Wilson, head of department for Finance, Accounting & Business Systems said: “At the Sheffield Business School we have a unique offer for students wishing to find a career in the finance, banking and investment industry.

“We work closely with businesses to ensure that work placements and projects are built into our courses, to give students the best chance of success when they graduate.

“Our forensic accountancy course is no exception and events like this reaffirm that we are truly a business school for the real world.”