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Published on August 3, 2007 By Jythier In Work Reports
I love my job. Every once in a while, while going through a file, I will come across something that I think is extremely important, that might make our case. Then, I show it to a superior and say, "Look what I found!"

I think my instincts are pretty good with this stuff, but sometimes I'm just way off. It's very rewarding, though, to bring to their attention something that really throws the case off, like a pre-existing injury in a accident case, or rounds of golf on a GHIN card while someone was supposedly out of work for a bad back.

I found a couple things lately, but I have no idea whether or not they are big. I have, however, revised the reports to reflect what I think they mean. These are very big changes, especially in one case where there was a pre-existing condition that may throw the entire claim out. Or it might just be an unrelated condition. I don't know, I'm not a doctor.

But, as a forensic accountant, we are supposed to try to notice everything possible to incorporate it into our analysis. That's why we can't necessarily rely upon formulas for our analysis. Things like that can really change the entire face of the claim. It's great to find them, but I feel really silly when I point something out and have it explained to me, very well, why it's not relevant at all. This happens a lot.

However, I'd rather bring something to their attention and have it discarded than not bring the really important thing up and have the case decided wrongly.

Comments
on Aug 03, 2007
Sometimes you find a diamond, sometimes quartz!  But it is the excitement of the find.
on Aug 03, 2007
That's what I like about it!

As my boss said, some people have that ability to make a find, some people don't. He recently got rid of an employee who did not have the ability, and I took his spot. He would look through paperwork, sure, but he didn't really know what to look for. When I first started, I thought that I didn't know what to look for. Maybe I didn't. But after not too long, I've started to get a handle on what is important in a file, or at least what COULD be important in a file.
on Aug 03, 2007
I think you finding and pointing out even the miniscule stuff that might not mean anything at first, is pretty good! If I were your boss, I would want to see even those that might not seem important to you but might be to me.