This is the first of two articles comparing the roles of the auditor and the forensic accountant, specifically their differing objectives, responsibilities, professional standards, and engagement terms. This article, which focuses on fraud investigations conducted by forensic accountants, also discusses how each professional approaches risk assessment, the concept of materiality, and building teams. Gathering information and reporting will be examined in the second article. Introduction There is a popular misconception that audits of financial statements are conducted with the primary objective of detecting fraud. Since the collapse of Enron, independent external financial statement auditors have made great strides in communicating…