How a Forensic Accountant Can Help After a Natural Disaster?

How a Forensic Accountant Can Help After a Natural Disaster?

Natural disasters can seem like the end for a business, as they can cause potentially irreversible damage, both to your property and to your finances. However, recovery is often possible, and a forensic accountant can be an invaluable asset for getting your business back on its feet.

Construction

In the event of a natural disaster that has caused significant damage to property, a forensic accountant can take the bulk of the responsibility when it comes to reviewing construction contracts. A forensic accountant will identify if a contractor has overcharged for materials or labor, marked things up incorrectly or has duplicated charges. They can also take the responsibility of auditing construction invoices and classifying charges so a business can be sure that they are not being overcharged for reconstruction.

Business Disturbance

The consequence of a natural disaster for any business, large or small, is that business activity will be interrupted for a period of time while rebuilding is underway. This can cause catastrophic financial losses for business, and recovery can often take years due to the complications that arise from the interruption of various streams of revenue. A forensic accountant can be invaluable in this scenario because they can calculate the loss of income and can work directly with insurance providers so that you don't have to quantify and prove the overall value of the loss with multiple insurers.

Policy limits

Insurance claims for natural disasters can be extremely complicated, due to the variety of coverage policies that insurance companies have regarding the nature of the damage. Some insurers cover both wind and flood damage that result from hurricane damage and some only cover one of these factors. In order to determine what level of coverage your business is entitled to, engineers must assist in assessing the damage of your property. Forensic accountanting experts can speed up this process by gathering construction documents for the engineer and auditing invoices to calculate the cost.

If you need more information about how forensic accountanting can assist your business in the event of a natural disaster, contact Jim Kinsel at KA Forensic consulting services by emailing us at info@kaforensic.com or by calling directly on 877-665-5994.