Nathan Cummins doesn’t sport a gun or badge to work, but in the world of accounting he’s something of a rookie cop.
Already a seasoned partner in May & Company’s base of tax-related and construction/contractor clients, the 34-year-old Cummins in October earned the title of Certified Fraud Examiner. It’s a title that could land him in tense courtrooms opposite defense lawyers and stuffy conference rooms opposite jumpy interview subjects.
His new title ensures he stay on the right side of the law in those cases.
“The main goal of a CFE is to prevent, detect and deter fraud,” Cummins said. “It’s becoming more popular in businesses and government. It’s a bigger concern, with the global economy and with electronic data.”
Cummins, who holds bachelor’s and masters degrees from Mississippi State University in accounting and taxation, took a battery of 125-question, multiple choice tests over four days with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Nashville to get the designation, which requires 10 hours of continuing education annually. ACFE is the world’s premier anti-fraud organization, with more than 70,000 members.
“I’m a CPA, so with that ability I can file tax returns with the IRS. I can represent clients with the IRS,” Cummins said. “In Mississippi, I can prepare financial statements, audits, compilations and reviews.
“As a certified fraud examiner, it’s like an extra layer of abilities to go into businesses and either design procedures to detect fraud and help businesses design ways to prevent fraud.”
Eligibility for taking the test means having two full years of experience and a master’s degree or equivalent, among its most stringent requirements. It isn’t exclusive to accountants; law enforcement professionals have earned it as well. But, it’s the perspective accountants already bring to the table that makes them excellent expert witnesses in trials involving crime in the workplace, such as embezzlement.
“One of the main instructors was a former cop and now is a forensic accountant at Halliburton, so it’s a portable certification to take to other jobs,” Cummins said. “Part of the test is certain interview techniques — certain tics or tales to see if the person will give you the information you need.”
“Another part was how to structure an interview with someone, how to look for signs of people trying to change the subject on you, certain habits people have when they’re lying. And part of being a CFE is expert testimony. People will hire you to be an expert witness if plaintiffs decide to take things to trial. You as CFE did all the work to decide whether a fraud existed.”
Cummins will play his first lead investigatory role when the next client needs to put a sharper magnifying glass on its books. That’s not to say he hasn’t had some useful experience in the sidecar on past inquiries.
“It was a person in an office miscoding their time to earn additional commissions and funds,” he recalls. “The owner became aware, so we went in there and pulled two years of data and saw how often they were at work, how much time they were recording to earn extra commission. It was pretty regular, all throughout the year. They were doing it so many days out of the year, so there was a pattern to it.”
“Usually, you try to assume on the front end there’s fraud taking place, but still build the case from the back end,” he said. “You make sure your details are squared away and unimpeachable.
—“It’s really the employer’s call, to call law enforcement. They may just fire the employee and not seek criminal prosecution.”
What’s the best way for small businesses to keep finances above board? Cummins said less doesn’t necessarily mean more when it comes to who’s handling the money.
“You like to have separation of duties in offices, and I know that’s not often the case,” he said. “But you like it to be where it’s not one person doing everything, as far as the financial side of the business. If you have one person doing everything — writing the checks, signing the checks, reconciling the bank statement —that’s usually a bad thing to start off with. When one person has that much control, it’s easier to manipulate the financial system. Having Joe Blow accountant handle everything is just asking for trouble, at the end of the day.”
Cummins, who lives in Clinton, is treasurer for the Vicksburg Art Association and for the Clinton Chamber of Commerce. He is also the auditor for the United Way of West Central Mississippi’s Donor Investments Panel.