Forensic audit – a new branch of audit

Forensic audit is a newer discipline within auditing that is aimed at detecting fraud in financial statements. Unlike the classic audit, which is primarily aimed at issuing an opinion on whether the financial statements are free from material misstatements, the forensic audit is aimed at detecting fraud. In fact, the forensic audit fills the "expectation gap" that occurs among the users of the financial statements who mistakenly believe that the audit of the financial statements "reveals everything", even though the audit reports themselves emphasize that "due to the nature of the audit work some material misstatements may go undetected by the audit”. Forensic audit is an extensive investigation of accounting records carried out by independent and expert persons in order to detect fraud or to eliminate the suspicion of the existence of fraud, during which evidence is collected that is usable in court proceedings, and which the forensic auditor, if necessary, presents in court. The company may initiate a forensic investigation to dispel rumors of bribery and extortion among its employees. They may also initiate investigations to learn more about these workplace activities and identify the individuals involved in them. The purpose of research in this paper will be to identify the importance and role of forensic audit in detecting fraud in financial reporting, misappropriation of funds and other criminal acts in entities from the economy, public and non-governmental sectors. Keywords : forensic audit, forensic auditor, fraud, financial statements, judicial authorities, crime Field: Social Sciences (аccounting and аudit)