A new “practice” area may be emerging for testifying experts. Click to read more....<< MORE >>

Since AFFS was formed in January 2009, we have taken great pride in providing our clients with superior expertise and services at an exceptional value.  This was made possible by the partial ownership of AFFS by PBGH, a CPA Firm with nearly 100 CPAs and professional staff located in four offices throughout Virginia.  In short, AFFS enjoyed all the technical and human resources of a large, established and highly reputable CPA Firm, with none of their associated costs or overhead.

Effective January 1, 2013, PBGH will merge with the accounting firm of Witt Mares to become the largest Virginia headquartered accounting firm (by CPA count), with nearly 200 CPAs and professional staff stationed in eight offices across Virginia.  On the national scale, it ranks the new accounting firm at around 110 in the nation among accounting firms.

For our clients, this only means that we have doubled in our capacity and ability to continue providing you with the highest quality financial and management advisory services and expertise.  AFFS will continue to operate seamlessly with, yet independent of, the accounting firm, with no change in AFFS' operating costs or overhead, so that our value proposition remains far beyond what our competitors can offer.

If you would like to learn more about any of our service offerings or how this exciting news enables us to better serve you or your clients, please contact me at JHanson@ArtificeForensic.com or (202) 590-7702.

I just returned from the Association of Corporate Counsel's 2012 Conference, in Orlando, FL. This was my first experience with the ACC and I was very impressed, both with the content/subject of the conference and how it was organized.

I had the pleasure of being on a panel discussing Compliance & Ethics Programs from the perspective of an Independent Corporate Monitor.  It was well attended and the questions were insightful.  Hopefully the unique perspective that a Monitor has on this subject was helpful to the participants.

I recently had an article published in my column on Corporate Compliance Insights that shared five areas I would be looking proactively at if I were an FBI Agent again.  In short, they are: Mixed Martial Arts, Movie and Television Production, Precious Metals, Video Gaming Industry, and Sporting Goods & Toys.  Read the full article here.

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Annual Meeting 2012 is coming up in Orlando, Sept 30th – October 3rd. This is the “world’s largest gathering of in-house counsel” and has a great lineup of presentations and programs. I am delighted to be a part of it - on Monday, October 1st I will be on a panel presenting “Working with a Corporate Monitor: When Your Compliance Program Isn’t Enough.” << MORE >>

In my Corporate Compliance Insights column, I have run a series of articles discussing how Compliance and Ethics Professionals might incorporate the Fraud Triangle into their Annual Compliance Risk Assessment(s). Though I cannot re-print the articles here, below are summaries of each with a link to each respective piece in the series.<< MORE >>

I am pleased and honored to be serving on a panel at the upcoming Ethics and Compliance Officer Association's (ECOA) Sponsoring Partner Forum (SPF). The SPF will be held at the Hyatt Capitol Hill in Washington DC from May 8-11, 2012.<< MORE >>

I recently published an article on my column at Corporate Compliance Insights that highlights four ways that companies can foster a positive ethical tone within their organizations. Below is a short "teaser" from the article, which can be read in full by clicking this link. The Ethics Resource Center released their 2011 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES). In their own words: “This year, the results have surprised us in every possible way.“<< MORE >>

During the SCCE Conference in Las Vegas this September, I was interviewed by the i-Sight Blog regarding my work in the area of Independent Corporate Monitoring. The article was recently published and I hope that you find it informative and helpful in your professional role(s).

Link to Article: "Lessons from an Independent Corporate Monitor"

I just published an article by this title with Corporate Compliance Insights.  It cautions against some of the organizations and people who peddle interview techniques advertised to turn a person into a "human lie detector." Link here