Also called: Fraud Accountant, Litigation Support Accountant
Follows the money to uncover fraud, embezzlement, and hidden assets.
Forensic accountants dig through bank records and spreadsheets to trace stolen money, help the FBI or lawyers build cases, and testify as expert witnesses.
Above BLS accountant median due to specialization.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in accounting, CPA license, and often Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Accounting, Finance, Criminal Justice.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI flags suspicious transactions fast, cutting record-sifting hours; building a fraud case and testifying as an expert stay human.
Classes: Accounting, AP Statistics, Business law, English (writing).
Official data: O*NET occupation 13-2011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.