Investigation and Reporting: Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic Effects

Abstract

As the disruption occasioned by the Ph.D. COVID-19, persist unabated, companied and auditors are grappling with the challenges resulting from the crises. The role of an investigative accountant has significantly increased in a short time in the wake of the pandemic which is ravaging the global economies. The pandemic is also shifting the paradigm and lands scape of fraud schemes that perpetrators are orchestrating against organization. Business organizations are increasingly, more than ever, facing significant operations, financial and strategic challenges in the wake of corona virus pandemic outbreak. Social distancing, which has made physical interaction almost impossible, has added complexities in the investigation and reporting processes. As a consequence, companies would need to device strategies on how they can productively continue or initiate investigation engagement in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Investigative accountant should therefore, leverage effectively on technology driven solutions to perform procedures, collect data, analyse data and perform procedures so as to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence and render report to the engagement client. Therefore, the investigative accountant should consider and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in designing his audit procedures. Thus, the crux of this is study is to examine the influence of COVID 19 Pandemic in investigation and reporting of the investigative accountant.