Forensic Analytics: Methods and Techniques for Forensic Accounting Investigations (Wiley Corporate F&A) 2nd Edition

Very informative and a great read.

Studying subject-area to prepare 4the CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINER's ( CFE ) certification exam. Still going through the first parts of the book so can't evaluate my pick 100% - but, it looks to cover the subject matter in a well written, organized way to facilitate grasping the primary topics of the exam.

The fraud topic drew me in, the analytics kept me in. Dr. Nigrini is a math whiz, and as a professor of forensic accounting and accounting tech, he knows that we benefit from detailed, step-wise instructions on tests to narrow down our searches for suspect transactions. The 35 or so fraud cases he uses for demonstration show that even simple high-level and some stronger small subset tests would have caught the majority of the fraudsters highlighted. His nuanced approach includes a fraud "hexagon" instead of the familiar "triangle."Since most of us auditors, accountants and financial pros are strong in Microsoft Excel and some have used Access for heavy lifting, we can relate to the methods he explains in these programs. Those of us who want more modern or advanced techniques will savor the illustrations in R, IDEA, SAS, Tableau and Minitab.Those of you curious about Benford's Law and how it came to be a respected detective methodology will be pleased to find whole chapters on the subject. Others of us are just looking to beef up our analytics skills and can see how to apply the updated techniques in the corporate accounting and analysis domains. He tells us when to use each technique with real-life examples.I now have the first and second editions on my bookshelf and you will not regret investing in this rich book. It's just so interesting and helpful too.

This book is the gold standard when it comes to analytics and of course Benford's Law. Mark Nigrini is the expert for Benford's law. I like this book because in addition to all the practical tools and examples Nigrini adds the personal touch with the cases he highlights. You can see his dedication, passion, and curiosity about the fraud work he has done in the past and continues to do.While many might see the book and think it is too technical for them I would challenge them to get the book and see how they can use analytics in their work. It also provides an understanding of many of the perpetrators of the frauds. Nigrini writes in a clever manner. The details and insights into the fraud and the suspects is very engaging. I would recommend this book to anyone in the fraud and forensic accounting field. It will be the book you constantly refer to. Nigrini is incredibly generous with his insights and technical skills.

Most authors writing on analytics can be a bit dry and technical in approach. Nigrini is clearly not one of these authors as as he weaves analytic techniques with hundreds of current case studies, engaging the reader from cover to cover. Using attainable software products, mainly in the Microsoft suite of tools, while also delving into other tools like Tableau, SAS, SQL, and more the publication provides easy to follow instructions to building advanced analytics for forensic analysis.It must not be forgotten that Nigrini and the use of Benford's Law / digital analysis in the audit / forensic world was not a correlation but rather a causation. He tirelessly explained for decades to anyone who would listen the existing analytic models for detection, coupled with many of his own design. This is clearly evidenced in reading each chapter as one can gain a bird's eye view from a clear master as he has applied analytics throughout his impressive career.

Great read and great resource! Dr. Nigrini is an excellent writer and incorporates his own experience into his textbooks. I've listed some helpful info below about the text. I highly recommend this book for your library!Flow of the chapters:The high-level overview tests designed to alert users to major issues such as incomplete or erroneous data.The Benford’s Law based testsVarious other tests designed to drill down into fine partitions to uncover anomalies.Two-chapter-length case studies with a discussion of the audit analytics that might have detected the fraud schemes before they hit the multi-million-dollar marks.A chapter on financial statement fraud.Software discussed:In addition to a healthy dose of Excel the chapters include coverage of:Access, Tableau, IDEA, SAS, R, and Minitab.Plenty of screenshots, figures, tables, and photos that make for interesting reading.Plenty of real-world cases and real-world chapter examples that make for interesting reading.

I purchased this book for the ACCT582 class that Mr. Nigrini teaches at WVU. As I had prior experience with both Excel and IDEA, the step by step instructions provided for the various tests were easy to understand and execute on my own. Further, the cases found throughout the book provided real world examples of frauds, how they were carried out, and how the covered analytics tests could've been used to detect or reduce the schemes. Certain chapters cover more IT technical and mathematical material, but are useful nonetheless. This book is a valuable tool for any investigator or auditor that would like to leverage technology in their procedures. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested or employed in the audit/investigation/fraud field.