Forensic accounting

Controls that protect your business and the people in it

The person who prepares a payment should not be the person who releases the money. That one separation is the core of financial control. It protects your staff as much as it protects the business, because it removes the possibility of suspicion falling on someone who has done nothing wrong. We design those controls. Where something has already gone wrong, forensic work here is led jointly by Nikoletta and Zsuzsa, and the answer is built to hold up under review.

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When this work is needed

The file does not lie, but it does not volunteer either

Investigation work starts because something has to be answered for: a dispute, a departure, a lender, or an auditor who will not sign. Guesswork is not an answer in any of those rooms.

Records that contradict each other Two systems, two answers, and no way to tell which is right without tracing the transactions back to source.

A gap left by a departure The person who understood the file has gone, and what they were doing was never written down anywhere.

An answer that has to stand up A conclusion nobody can trace is worthless in a dispute. The working matters as much as the number.

What we do

Traced, documented, and able to be defended

1 Scope before work begins We agree what question is being answered and what would constitute an answer, because open-ended forensic work costs more and settles less.

2 Transactions traced to source Working from source documents rather than summaries, through incomplete or contradictory records, until the trail is continuous.

3 Findings documented to hold up Written so a third party can follow the reasoning and reach the same conclusion. The working is the deliverable, not just the number.

4 A working file afterwards Once the investigation is finished we rebuild a file you can actually operate, so you are not left with an answer and no system.

The tools this sector actually uses

What we work from and with

Forensic work is not a software problem, but the tooling decides how long it takes and how well the trail survives scrutiny.

Source document reconstruction Bank data, statements and source documents rebuilt into a continuous record rather than accepting the summaries.

Xero as the working record Findings reconstructed inside Xero, so the outcome is an operable file and not only a report.

Documented methodology Each step recorded as it is taken, so the conclusion can be traced back by somebody who was not there.

How we handle integrations

In their own words

Forensic accounting, explained

Watch Forensic Accounting on YouTube

What a forensic review covers

How NN Accountability protects your business with forensic Xero reviews

We go through your Xero file in forensic detail to find what is working, what is not, and where your systems are exposed, so you can protect the business and get control back.

Nikoletta and Zsuzsa smiling side by side at a meeting desk — Nikoletta and Zsuzsa

Who this is for

The people who call us

Owners who suspect an error or fraud When something feels wrong and you cannot put your finger on it, we find out what is actually happening.

Records that are messy, inconsistent or incomplete Particularly where an audit is coming, or a tax or legal question has arrived without warning.

Businesses changing bookkeeper or accountant Who want the books clean, correct and understood before anybody hands anything over.

Legal and HR teams investigating financial misconduct We provide the detailed reporting and the evidence trail that proceedings and internal reviews need.

Anyone needing an expert review of their Xero file We go deep into the file to find the issues and rebuild trust in what it tells you.

If you are dealing with messy numbers, inconsistencies or financial questions nobody has answered, this is the work we are called in for.

Proof

Case work

The books said the business was profitable. The bank account said otherwise.

Six days after the owner asked for an investigation there was enough evidence to refer the matter to police. $416,000 documented payment by payment, every direct debit reconciled to a hidden pay run, and a guilty plea once the trail was put in front of them. The business kept its doors open and its team employed.

A family owned marine electrical business Forensic accounting

Read the full case study

Questions from this sector

Questions we are asked most

Who leads the forensic work? It is led jointly by Nikoletta and Zsuzsa. Both are involved in scoping and in the findings, rather than one person handing off to the other.

Is this only for fraud? No, and most of it is not. Far more often a process broke quietly and nobody noticed for a couple of years. The work is the same either way: trace it, document it, explain it.

Will the findings hold up in a dispute? That is what they are written for. Each step is documented as it is taken so a third party can follow the reasoning and reach the same conclusion.

What happens after the investigation? We rebuild a working file, so you are left with a system you can operate rather than only a report about what went wrong.

What do your forensic accounting services cover? Reconstructing a record that is incomplete or disputed, tracing where money actually went, and setting out what the evidence supports rather than what it suggests. The work is done so it stands up to somebody else checking it, because usually somebody will.

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The free Xero Health Check from NN Accountability

The free checklist

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Identify common bookkeeping errors and discover simple fixes for smoother financial management, written in plain English.