2022 AICPA & CIMA Forensic & Valuation Services Conference

Current and former senior members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division will discuss recent SEC enforcement actions with a focus on matters involving financial reporting, digital assets and gatekeepers.  In addition, the panel will discuss their views on the roles of forensic accountants in both the government and private sectors.

Global inflationary pressures in the post-pandemic recovery have forced major central banks to raise interest rates. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the protracted war in the region have added further pressure to global agricultural and other commodity prices. Both events have led to progressively weaker growth forecasts for the U.S. and other economies. This session will discuss how these events have impacted cost of capital assumptions and how valuations may be impacted as a result.

No two litigation or forensic accounting engagements are the same. They often have multiple parties, varied allegations, possible counter-claims and a number of different financial issues. Having a methodical approach and well-structured organization will make it easier for you and your staff to quickly locate key records and maintain consistency across case files. Ultimately, you will be better-prepared for communication with your team and the clients, as well as the final reporting and testimony.

The presentation will cover highlights from this year's Annual Damages Case Law Update, along with an overview of the growing repository of case law briefs being accumulated for AICPA FVS members. The case law update will focus on expert admissibility and cover a mix of commercial damages and intellectual property cases.

We've been taught case law and the methodologies, but, what about addressing how matters vary so, so much from one to the other? How is case law relevant when it is not comparable? Practical approaches and best practices.

Litigation matters often have a need for multiple experts with varying skillsets and expertise. These experts are often relying on the same data and information but viewing it from a different perspective. There is often a need for experts to rely on each other’s testimony as well. This session will explore how two experts look at the same data differently as well as exploring the risks of varying assumptions and reliance on another expert’s work.

Discussion to include: (1) When to adjust for reasonable compensation, (2) Double dip issues, (3) Sources for reasonable comp, and how to use appropriately, (4) Discussion of whether BV experts are qualified to opine to reasonable comp

In litigation, the decisions in court cases create precedence for future court cases. Keeping up to date on current court decisions and the background can help you prepare your valuation for court and support it in testimony.

With the proliferation in M&A activity, it is critical that forensic accountants have an understanding of deal-specific representations and warranties, and how those concepts work in practice. Attendees will develop an understanding of how forensic accountants can assist buyers, sellers, and insurers navigate the considerations and practicalities of working through breaches of representations and warranties. This session will explore the conceptual framework of representations and warranties, emphasize the most common financial and accounting areas of concern, discuss the impact of representation and warranty insurance products, and identify additional actions (e.g., fraud claims) that often accompany an R&W claim.

Divorce, or other litigation - implied in title but a complex topic to address the source of funds and the analysis for active or passive based on multi-entity ownership including related party and GP/LP ownerships

Dealing with matters of i) corporate governance, ii) unauthorized transactions, iii) whistleblower claims, and iv) related party transactions. The learning points will include: Remote interviewing Online investigative practices Value-added services Professional practices and ethical standards Dealing with company boards and investors • Changes in risks emanating from the evolving hybrid workplace environment • The importance of whistleblower hotlines in today’s remote workplace environment / corporate governance models • The receipt, review and interpretation of anonymous tips from whistleblower hotlines • Developing and executing effective investigation plans from tips received through whistleblower hotlines, particularly in the shifting ‘paperless’ workplace environment • Protections afforded to whistleblowers and ramifications to organizations for retaliatory actions • Case studies of how whistleblower hotlines have helped organizations mitigate fraud risk while increasing communication and transparency

Interactive session with attorney and FVS professional. Discussion points include (1) retention of expert (attorney v. client), (2) discovery demands and process, (3) client meetings and subsequent interactions, (4) who stays on top of whom (lawyer leading or forensic leading), (5) business owner interviews (attendance, selecting appropriate stage in litigation, format and reliance on information), (6) preliminary schedules (when does an expert have “enough” to “start a negotiation process"), (7) practice management (billing and collecting of fees).

This large internal fraud investigation commenced upon receipt of an anonymous complaint indicating that senior management of the company was inappropriately involved with a number of vendors and asking that accountants look into how much money had been paid to these undisclosed related parties. This letter triggered the initiation of a large international investigation involving the creation and utilization of a multitude of related party companies, which had received huge payments from the company. This ongoing investigation was made more complex because the company and its publicly traded parent were audited by separate big accounting firms.

Best practices when you are the 3rd appraiser or an expert in a litigation matter. How to identify the key differences and most importantly, the impact from differences and the best manner in which to communicate those differences.

Using two extraordinary case studies, your panel of seasoned Chapter 11 Financial Advisors will steer you through their recent work for the Easterday Ranches Chapter 11 Unsecured Creditors Committee, at a loss of $250 million (and 180,000 missing cattle), the largest cattle fraud case in U.S. History; and shine some sunlight on the $2 billion Ponzi scheme DC Solar Chapter 11s, the biggest fraud case in the history of the DOJ Eastern District of California, generating a 30-year prison sentence for the principal and six other plea agreements—including the company’s outside CPA.