Abstract & Overview
Forensic Accounting is among the professional alternatives available to future accountants. Legislation on education in Accounting in Brazil, enacted in the 1990s, reinstated Forensic Accounting in the curricula. Resolution CNE/CES N. 10, of 16 December 2004, instructed Accounting courses to train professionals apt to interact with the current context, which led to adjustments in course curricula and brought qualified professors to teach this subject and content. To contribute to the study of the Accounting Professional's training insofar as their role as Forensic Accountants, this study aims to identify and analyze the current status of the Forensic Accounting class and its importance in undergraduate Accounting courses offered by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Santos. To identify the class and its importance, the following was done: a) review of the national curriculum proposals for the course, of the course description, and of the curricular frameworks at the surveyed institutions, focusing on the class, b) investigation of the perception both students and professors have of the training of future accountants to perform Forensic Accounting. The query uses questionnaires consisting of open and closed questions. The analysis of documents and publications on Accounting and of the Accounting course indicates that training in Forensic Accounting has been maintained nearly throughout the entire history of the courses. Course descriptions are similar. The hours devoted to it vary from eighty (80) to 136 (one hundred and thirty six) class hours. A consultation made among students and professionals indicates that they are knowledgeable of the subject's content, realize its importance for professional activities, and recommend possible improvements to the course, such more hours and practical activities. The results could be added to those of other studies, allowing for the improvement of the training for Accounting professionals in Brazil.