Fraud investigator vs forensic accountant

The differences between fraud investigators and forensic accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a fraud investigator and a forensic accountant. Additionally, a forensic accountant has an average salary of $66,833, which is higher than the $49,010 average annual salary of a fraud investigator.

The top three skills for a fraud investigator include law enforcement agencies, investigative reports and fraud investigations. The most important skills for a forensic accountant are CPA, litigation, and forensic accounting.

Fraud investigator vs forensic accountant overview

	Fraud Investigator	Forensic Accountant
Yearly salary	$49,010	$66,833
Hourly rate	$23.56	$32.13
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	5,470	39,176
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	43	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a fraud investigator do?

A fraud investigator specializes in investigating and identifying fraudulent activities within a company and its clients. Their responsibilities depend on their line of work or industry of employment. However, most of the time, their duties will revolve around devising strategies and systems to detect inconsistencies, monitoring suspicious transactions and accounts, conducting reviews to identify any security lapses or vulnerabilities in the procedures, and teaching staff how to notice any fraudulent activities. Furthermore, it is vital to implement the policies and regulations of the company.

What does a forensic accountant do?

Working close together with law enforcement agencies, a forensic accountant specializes in investigating potential fraud and financial crimes. Their responsibilities typically include performing extensive research and analysis, gathering and analyzing various forms of financial data and storage, reviewing and validating documents, verifying information, and conducting internal and external financial audits. Most of the time, a forensic accountant presents research findings to lawyers and judges as evidence, which will require them to participate and testify in court proceedings.

Fraud investigator vs forensic accountant salary

Fraud investigators and forensic accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fraud Investigator	Forensic Accountant
Average salary	$49,010	$66,833
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $74,000	Between $44,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Deutsche Bank	Berkeley Research Group
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between fraud investigator and forensic accountant education

There are a few differences between a fraud investigator and a forensic accountant in terms of educational background:

	Fraud Investigator	Forensic Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Accounting
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	University of Pennsylvania

Fraud investigator vs forensic accountant demographics

Here are the differences between fraud investigators' and forensic accountants' demographics:

	Fraud Investigator	Forensic Accountant
Average age	43	44
Gender ratio	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%	Male, 57.0% Female, 43.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	4%	7%

Differences between fraud investigator and forensic accountant duties and responsibilities

Fraud investigator example responsibilities.

Manage corporate-wide document production relative to complex litigation cases.
Detect and investigate fraudulent transactions such as money laundering, check forgeries, unauthorize ACH transfers and debit card fraud.
Review ISO reports and maintain close contact with police agencies working on fraud investigations.
Pursue recovery of bank funds through ACH processes, restitution from perpetrator and customer through criminal and civil means.
Write suspicious activity reports, address fraud alerts, and other applicable AML processes in accordance with regulations and time limitations.
Work on the development of a client application site determining the AML decision making rules, alerts, validation and verification.

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Forensic accountant example 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.

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Fraud investigator vs forensic accountant skills

Common fraud investigator skills

Law Enforcement Agencies, 7%
Investigative Reports, 6%
Fraud Investigations, 6%
Criminal Justice, 6%
Financial Institutions, 4%
Fraud Claims, 4%

Common forensic accountant skills

CPA, 21%
Litigation, 16%
Forensic Accounting, 8%
Financial Data, 7%
Fraud Investigations, 7%
CFE, 5%

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Business and Financial Industry
Fraud Investigator
Fraud Investigator vs Forensic Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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