Scope and assignment
what we were asked, what we were given, and what we were not given.
Scope
What forensic accounting covers, and what it does not
Forensic accounting in New York is the reconstruction of financial facts for a proceeding or an investigation.
Two engagement types sit under it. Litigation, where the work supports an actual or potential legal or regulatory proceeding. And investigation, where the work responds to a specific concern about wrongdoing.
People hire a forensic accountant because the records are incomplete or contested, or because someone has an incentive for them to read a particular way. The arithmetic is rarely the hard part. The job is to establish what the documents actually support and where they stop.
Three limits are worth knowing before you hire anyone.
Not legal advice
A forensic accountant works alongside your attorney, not instead of one.
Not an audit
A forensic engagement produces no opinion on financial statements.
Not a finding of fraud
Under the AICPA forensic standard a CPA does not give an opinion on whether fraud occurred, because that decision belongs to the judge or jury. We quantify and document what the evidence supports.
Experience and coverage
George Dimov, CPA, in five numbers.
12+
years serving New York City
150,000+
returns filed
Serving clients in
all 50 states
5 star
rated on Google, Yelp, and Thumbtack
Open
evenings and weekends
Who we work with
Who we work with
Five kinds of client hire us for forensic accounting in New York.
Attorneys
matrimonial, commercial and probate counsel who need a financial expert on a matter already in motion.
Business owners in a partnership dispute
where the books are held by the other side and the distributions stopped.
Spouses and their counsel
where income, a business interest, or an asset is not where the statement of net worth says it is.
Boards and audit committees
responding to a specific allegation, and needing it handled independently of management.
Insurers and policyholders
quantifying a business interruption or fidelity claim, from either side.
Services
Forensic accounting services we provide
We take on seven types of forensic engagement, and each one produces a different deliverable.
Forensic accounting litigation support
Document analysis, discovery assistance, deposition and cross examination preparation, and rebuttal of the other side's expert. Often the whole engagement, with no testimony at all.
Accounting expert witness testimony
A written report and testimony at deposition or trial. In federal court, Rule 702 was amended in December 2023, and the report has to be built for it.
Matrimonial asset tracing
Following money between accounts and entities, testing for hidden assets in divorce, separating marital from separate property, and checking unreported income against lifestyle.
Forensic business valuation in a dispute
Valuation prepared to be challenged rather than to be filed, which is a different exercise from a valuation for a sale.
Fraud and embezzlement investigation
Scoping the exposure, quantifying it, and documenting it to a standard that supports insurance recovery or a referral.
Shareholder and partnership disputes
Distributions, related party transactions, and whether the books reflect the deal the parties actually made.
Economic damages calculation
Lost profits, lost earnings and business interruption, with the method chosen before the number rather than after it.
Divorce valuation
Business valuation in a New York divorce: how the valuation date is set
In a New York matrimonial matter, a business valuation for divorce turns more on the valuation date than on the approach.
Under the Domestic Relations Law the court may use any date between the date the case was filed and the date of trial, and each asset can carry its own date. The usual test is active against passive. An operating business a spouse ran and grew is active, and tends to be valued at the filing date. A brokerage account that rose with the market is passive, and tends to be valued at trial.
Which date the asset is valued at
Start with what the asset is
Not divided
Enhanced earning capacity from a license, degree or celebrity goodwill
For cases filed on or after 25 January 2016 this is no longer property that can be divided. Contributions toward it remain a factor in the distribution, which is a narrower and different question.
For everything else: how did the value grow between the filing date and trial?
Active
An operating business a spouse ran and grew
The value moved because of a party’s own efforts.
Tends to be valued at the filing date
Passive
A brokerage account that rose with the market
The value moved because the market moved.
Tends to be valued at trial
Each asset can carry its own date
The court may use any date between the date the case was filed and the date of trial. In a contested case running two or three years, that choice is often the largest single number in the matter.
In a contested case running two or three years, that distinction is often the largest single number in the matter. For a premarital business, appreciation is marital only to the extent it is due in part to the other spouse’s contributions or efforts.
For cases filed on or after 25 January 2016, the value of a spouse’s enhanced earning capacity from a license, degree or celebrity goodwill is no longer property that can be divided. Contributions toward it remain a factor in the distribution, which is a narrower and different question. Working out which rule applies to which asset is most of what a divorce forensic accountant does.
Standards
Standards that govern forensic work: SSFS No. 1, Rule 702 and Frye
Three sets of rules decide whether a forensic report holds up: the AICPA forensic standard, Rule 702 in federal court, and the Frye test in New York state court.
Federal court
Rule 702
The December 2023 amendment confirmed that the party offering the expert must show the requirements are met on the balance of probabilities, and that the opinion must stay inside what the method actually supports.
As a result, more of the work now goes into the report itself, because an opinion that reaches past its own method is easier to exclude.
New York state court
Frye
Most New York divorce and commercial matters are heard here. Frye applies to novel or experimental scientific principles rather than to every expert method, and other admissibility requirements, including proper foundation, still apply.
The same accounting expert witness can face different rules depending on where the case is filed.
SSFS No. 1, the AICPA forensic standard, applies in both
It applies to engagements accepted on or after 1 January 2020, and it applies by reference to why the member was engaged rather than which skills were used. It replaces the general consulting standard, and it bars an expert witness from working on a contingent fee or under the agreed upon procedures standard.
Which column applies is decided by where the case is filed, not by the method used.
Once the conflict check clears
Have us review the other side's report
Send the opposing expert report and the schedules behind it. We will tell you where the method is exposed, what the report does not support, and what to ask at deposition.
The deliverable
What a forensic accounting report contains
A forensic accounting report has six parts.
Documents relied on
listed, because opposing counsel will test whether the conclusion could survive without any one of them.
Method and why it was chosen
including the approaches considered and rejected, which is the most common point of failure.
Findings and the analysis behind them
with the schedules attached rather than summarized.
Assumptions and limitations
stated up front, not left for opposing counsel to raise.
Opinions, bounded
expressed only as far as the method supports and no further.
How it works
How a forensic accounting engagement works
Every forensic accounting in New York engagement starts with a conflict check, and nothing else begins until it clears.
- 01
Conflict check and free consultation
Parties, entities and counsel, then what the dispute is actually about. Nothing else begins until this clears.
- 02
Engagement letter and scope
Retained through counsel where privilege matters, and never on a contingent fee where testimony is possible.
- 03
Documents and access
A single request list, then a second one once the first set shows what is missing.
- 04
Analysis and interim findings
Anything that changes the theory of the case reaches you as we find it, not at the end.
- 05
Report, then testimony if it goes that far
Draft discussed with counsel, then deposition or trial support.
Pricing
How much does forensic accounting cost
Forensic accounting in New York is priced per engagement, and the factors are the same ones that decide how long it takes.
- 1How many years, entities and accounts are in scope.
- 2Whether the records are organized, incomplete, or held by the other side.
- 3Whether the engagement stops at analysis or continues into a report and testimony.
- 4Whether a business valuation is included.
- 5How compressed the litigation calendar is.
These are the factors, not a quote. Every engagement is scoped and quoted before work starts, and never on a contingent fee where expert testimony is in prospect.
Client reviews
What our clients say
“There’s another type of client where they think that the accountant’s job is to make sure they pay no taxes at all regardless of how much income they earn. And I say to myself, wait a minute. So you expect me to do something that’s not right on your returns?”
“They did a thorough job with my tax returns and they were very responsive to my many questions along the way.”
Related
Related services
This page is general information, not legal advice or advice for your circumstances. A forensic accountant works alongside your attorney, not instead of one.
Free consultation
Start with the conflict check
Tell us the parties, the entities and what the dispute is about. Nothing else begins until the conflict check clears, and every engagement is scoped and quoted before work starts.
