The AICPA’s Forensic and Valuation Services Center just released “Characteristics and Skills of the Forensic Accountant,” a report commissioned to determine the essential traits and core skills forensic accountants should possess to be effective investigators. Based on a survey of attorneys, academics and CPAs, the report results indicate economic damages calculations and valuation were two of the top four specialties required for a forensic accountant. 
The research also revealed that the top five most frequent reasons why forensic accountants are ineffective:

• Inability to simplify the information
• Ineffective oral communication
• Inability to understand the goals of a case
• Inability to identify key issues
• Lack of investigative intuitiveness