Evaluating the Impact of Forensic Accounting on Cost Efficiency in Zimbabwe’s Public Procurement System

Purpose: The study purpose was to do an evaluation of how forensic accounting affects the cost effectiveness of Zimbabwe’s public procurement system. Issues to do with how forensic accounting affects achieving of cost savings and optimisation of resource allocation in Zimbabwe’s public procurement system were dwelled on. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Institutional Theory which called for a quantitative research methodology was used in this study. Data was gathered using questionnaires which were administered to 112 respondents. The respondents were obtained from government ministries, audit firms, law enforcement agents, auditors and procurement management units. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed in conjunction with descriptive statistics. Findings: The study revealed that there was a significant positive association between procurement efficacy and investigative accounting. IIFCS was also statistically significant while PFAP emerged as the strongest predictor. Most of the respondents (87.5%) reiterated that forensic accounting boosts cost savings and resource optimisation. They agreed that it enabled exposing of unfairly priced figured, bid rigging, non- cost-effective expenditure, and collusion. Implications/Originality/Value: This paper alluded that ought to end up being institutionalised. Thus, there is need to coopt forensic accounting in the Zimbabwean public procurement system.