Data Sleuth

Chapter 1Building a Data Sleuth Team

AT THE INTERSECTION OF the forensic accounting, fraud investigation, and data analysis engagements is the Data Sleuth Process. Born out of necessity from my solo practitioner struggles, the practicality of the Data Sleuth Process is useful for solo practitioners – especially those new to the profession. But the true power of the Data Sleuth Process is realized in a team-centric environment. Most of the skills expected of a solo forensic accountant are those that improve with experience, but in the context of a team, the expectations can be distributed across all of the members instead of relying on one person to be a jack-of-all-trades. Each investigation engagement presents its own unique challenges, and it may feel as though only someone with years of experience can provide a solution; however, with a reliable, duplicative process, a team-centered model can be developed and provide a better work product than had the professional performed the engagement alone.

In the early days of building my practice, I intentionally ignored all of the business professionals who relentlessly talked about scalability being the ultimate business leader's dream with time for vacation and rest. I would think, You preach this method because you sell products or have recurring client engagements and have never worked an investigation. I was convinced that the only duplication that had a chance of happening in my business was by finding someone who I trained ...