How to hire a forensic accountant

How to hire a forensic accountant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step forensic accountant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a forensic accountant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new forensic accountant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a forensic accountant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the forensic accountant you need to hire. Certain forensic accountant roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a forensic accountant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a forensic accountant that fits the bill.

   This list presents forensic accountant salaries for various positions.

   Type of Forensic Accountant	Description	Hourly rate
   Forensic Accountant	Accountants and auditors prepare and examine financial records. They ensure that financial records are accurate and that taxes are paid properly and on time... Show more	$21-48
   Accountant/Consultant	Accountants/consultants perform accounting tasks for organizations or companies. The accountants improve accounting practices and prepare financial statements at the end of every year... Show more	$22-41
   Accountant Internship	An accounting intern is responsible for assisting an organization's accounting department, observing practical applications and processes, and performing accounting duties under the supervision of tenured accounting staff. Accounting interns support the accounting operations by preparing and organizing financial reports, helping with accounts reconciliation, researching financial and stock market trends, utilizing various accounting software, and managing feedback from their mentors... Show more	$11-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CPA
   • Litigation
   • Forensic Accounting
   • Financial Data
   • Fraud Investigations
   • CFE
   • Data Analysis
   • Financial Statements
   • GAAP
   • Insurance Claims
   • Financial Analysis
   • QuickBooks
   • Securities
   • Business Valuation

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
   • Gain accounting and auditing experience with this CPA firm.
   • Select and roll out ERP software to meet company requirements.
   • Complete all tasks for a full service CPA firm independently with little supervision.
   • Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of GAAP to record transactions.
   • Prepare responses to interrogatories and requests for production documents.

   More forensic accountant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your forensic accountant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A forensic accountant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a forensic accountant in South Carolina may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level forensic accountant usually earns less than a senior-level forensic accountant. Additionally, a forensic accountant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average forensic accountant salary

   $66,833yearly

   $32.13 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level forensic accountant salary

   $44,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 21, 2026

   Average forensic accountant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$112,634	$54
   2	Rhode Island	$93,542	$45
   3	New Hampshire	$87,066	$42
   4	Massachusetts	$86,353	$42
   5	New York	$85,332	$41
   6	Delaware	$81,285	$39
   7	Maryland	$81,159	$39
   8	Virginia	$81,063	$39
   9	California	$80,717	$39
   10	Georgia	$80,686	$39
   11	Illinois	$75,750	$36
   12	Texas	$75,431	$36
   13	Nevada	$74,322	$36
   14	Connecticut	$72,770	$35
   15	Ohio	$70,691	$34
   16	Pennsylvania	$70,416	$34
   17	North Carolina	$69,534	$33
   18	Indiana	$67,659	$33
   19	Mississippi	$67,571	$32
   20	Montana	$65,413	$31

   Average forensic accountant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Berkeley Research Group	$90,047	$43.29	1
   2	Agilent Technologies	$82,348	$39.59
   3	Meaden & Moore	$80,646	$38.77	9
   4	SiloSmashers	$78,120	$37.56	2
   5	Deloitte	$78,041	$37.52	220
   6	Cohen & Company	$77,159	$37.10	44
   7	Delta Consulting Group	$75,796	$36.44
   8	Sedgwick LLP	$73,295	$35.24	5
   9	Federal Bureau of Investigation	$73,058	$35.12
   10	Pacific Architects and Engineers	$69,519	$33.42
   11	Marsh & McLennan Companies	$68,362	$32.87	4
   12	Alan Gray	$68,309	$32.84
   13	Compass Strategy	$68,309	$32.84
   14	The Independent Traveler	$68,302	$32.84
   15	Hagen, Streiff, Newton & Oshiro	$67,907	$32.65
   16	J.S. Held	$67,464	$32.43
   17	Aon	$66,617	$32.03	7
   18	Brown & Brown	$66,513	$31.98	3
   19	The Travelers Companies	$66,482	$31.96
   20	Goodwin Recruiting	$66,188	$31.82

4. Writing a forensic accountant job description

   A job description for a forensic accountant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a forensic accountant job description:

   Forensic accountant job description example

   Senior Forensic Accountant - Orlando
   
   Firm:
   Meaden & Moore is a leading CPA and business consulting firm committed to providing outstanding professional services for our clients, rewarding careers for our staff, and diligent service to our communities. Since 1919, we have focused our expertise and resources on providing superior accounting, tax, forensic, and consulting services to a wide array of clients in a variety of industries. Through careful examination of the issues affecting business success, our CPAs, CFEs, CFFs, advisors, and auditors develop strategies and solutions to help our clients thrive in today's global economy.
   
   Opportunity and Qualifications:
   Our Orlando office is devoted exclusively to forensic accounting and litigation support services. We are currently seeking a career-minded Senior Forensic Accountant with two to five years of public accounting experience to work within our Investigative Accounting Group.
   The majority of our engagements involve working with commercial property insurers in evaluating physical damage and business income losses suffered by businesses resulting from catastrophes. Projects may include reviewing and analyzing historical financial and industry information, revenue and expense projections, insurance claim evaluations and economic damage evaluations. Assignments provide exposure to a wide range of industries from small local retail stores to multinational entities. Competitive compensation will be based on the candidate's level of experience and potential.
   
   We are looking for individuals who seek exciting, long-term career challenges in the field of accounting and have a genuine interest in the area of forensic accounting and litigation support services. Successful individuals in this field are naturally outgoing, self-motivated, possess strong communication and analytical skills, and enjoy a wide variety of work experiences and challenges.
   
   To be considered for this position, candidates must:
   hold a Bachelor or advanced degree in Accounting or Finance
   be fluent in Spanish; Portuguese is a plus
   have their CPA designation
   be self-motivated and proactive
   possess intermediate-level Microsoft Excel and Word skills
   travel overnight, as needed (approximately 15%)
   
   Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:
   Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and company's achievement as well.
   
   We embrace and encourage our employees' differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique.
   
   Benefits/Compensation:
   Meaden & Moore provides a competitive compensation package commensurate with qualifications and experience, in addition to a unique incentive program that rewards our exemplary employees. We also offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes your choice of medical programs, generous PTO, 401k, and various bonus opportunities.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find forensic accountants for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any forensic accountants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level forensic accountants with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your forensic accountant job on Zippia to find and recruit forensic accountant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with forensic accountant candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new forensic accountant

   Once you've selected the best forensic accountant candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new forensic accountant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a forensic accountant?