lotus amity presentations for lawyers

Lotus Amity Pty Ltd ACN 613059073 Tokyo Two, 36 Mein Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane, QLD 4000

Tel 0432 617 212 www.lotusamity.com

Forensic Accounting Presentations for Lawyers – Simon Cook

Simon has assisted in many legal matters and disputes, including transaction disputes,

damages claims, shareholder disputes and matrimonial matters. He has provided forensic

services including risk and quantum assessment, valuations, investigations and

interpretation of financial information. He has acted as an expert witness and as a shadow

expert and assisted in mediations.

Simon is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a

Certified Fraud Examiner. He holds a degree in Business Economics and Management

Studies, a Masters Degree in Hospitality Management and a Graduate Diploma in Applied

Finance. He has an Institute of Arbitration & Mediators practitioner’s certificate in

mediation, is certified in investigations and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of

Company Directors

Business valuations in disputes

The seminar is for legal practitioners involved in dispute resolution, commercial disputes and

matrimonial disputes. By attending this seminar, practitioners gain an understanding of

valuations and what to expect to see in a valuation report. This workshop has previously

been approved by the Solicitors Regulations Authority for England and Wales and the Law

Society of Western Australia as an accredited CPD course

The presentation provides an overview of concepts together with practical examples. Topics

that are covered include:

• National and international regulatory standards and guidelines

• Types of valuation reports

• Scenarios/ situations where valuation reports are required

• Enterprise value versus equity value

• Valuation methods

• Understanding earnings and risk

• Understanding the balance sheet

http://www.lotusamity.com



• What is goodwill?

• Minority interests and minority oppression

• Market value vs other definitions of value.

Accounting 101 for lawyers

This seminar is for legal practitioners with little to no accounting knowledge who would find it

useful to have a basic understanding of financial accounting in relation to client cases,

particularly those relating to commercial and matrimonial disputes. This session was

previously accredited with the Law Society of Western Australia for CPD points.

The seminar works through a practical example. You are introduced to basic accounting

concepts and shown how transactions build into a set of financial statements. The seminar

highlights areas where manipulation can occur and key areas to look out for.

Topics that are covered include:

• What are financial statements?

• How does the balance sheet come into being?

• What does the profit & loss statement mean?

• How do you manipulate your accounts?

• What is an audit?

• What is forensic accounting?

Accounting Shenanigans

This seminar is for legal practitioners who are exposed to financial statements. The

workshop goes through practical case studies and demonstrate how financial statements are

manipulated. This session was previously accredited with the Law Society of Western

Australia for CPD points.

Key topics that are covered during the seminar include:

• What does creative accounting and cooking the books mean and is it legal?

• The top 5 ways to inflate earnings




• How to overstate assets while understating liabilities

• What does off-balance sheet accounting mean?

• Where to look for things that aren’t on the balance sheet

• Accounting shenanigans that led to the world’s largest corporate collapses.

The Squeeze Out - valuing minority interests

An appraisal remedy is often adopted in situations where a majority shareholder is looking

to squeeze out a minority shareholder. For example, under BVI legislation the majority

shareholders have the right to redeem a minority shareholding and in such a situation the

minority shareholder has the right to be paid fair value for those shares.

In this seminar we examine what is meant by fair value (vs market value), consider the

concept of value in the context of dissent, oppression and transaction disputes, provide a

high level introduction to discounted cash flow and earning capitalisation methods and

explain the logic and research behind marketability and minority discounts.

Topics covered include:

• what do we mean by “fair value” and is “fair value” the same as market value?

• what approach and methodology should we adopt when valuing a minority interest?

• what do we mean by minority discounts, how do they come about and how are they

calculated

• what do we mean by a discount for lack of marketability and what influences that

discount

Forensic Accounting 101

In this session you will discover how financial statements can be manipulated and how

forensic accounting discovery techniques are used. The workshop is separated into two

parts. In the first part we cover the nuts and bolts of accounting and accounting

manipulation, the second part is where we introduce accounting standards, explain what

is involved in an audit and show forensic accounting techniques.




We use a practical business example and guests are encouraged to take part, completing

simple T accounts and creating their own profit and loss account and balance sheet. This

workshop endeavors to remove any trepidation when dealing with numbers and is suitable

for lawyers with little or no financial knowledge. These workshop have previously been

approved by the Solicitors Regulations Authority for England and Wales as an accredited

CPD course.

Topics that are covered include:

•What is forensic accounting?

•Accounting shenanigans - how to manipulate your financials

•Debits and credits - double entry bookkeeping basics

•Source documents - books and records

•What are accounting standards and how do they work

Forensic Accounting 101.2

In this second part of the Forensic Accounting workshop, we look at the

work of the auditor and forensic accountant.

The owners of Clarity have fallen out. One of the owners is unhappy about some of the costs

being put through the business and has requested an audit. Meanwhile rumors are

circulating that the other owner appears to be living above his means. He has been

overheard boasting that the business is doing much better than the other party thinks. In

addition, there is a dispute over who actually owns the business. The other party, suspecting

mischief and potential fraud, has hired a forensic accountant to investigate.

In this workshop we first look at the work the auditor carries out, what it means to the

owners, the limitations of an audit and where audits fail. We then follow the forensic

accountant’s investigations, look at what he discovers and the impact it has on the dispute.

and we examine what needs to be done to resolve this issue.




How to make the best use of financial experts

This seminar is designed to provide practical advice about using experts in litigation and other

dispute resolution processes. This seminar was previously provided in conjunction with the

Law Society of Western Australia.

You will learn valuable insights for choosing an expert, when it is advisable to obtain a report

and gain practical tips for requesting reports.

Accounting ethics for lawyers

This session was previously accredited with the Law Society of Western Australia for CPD

points. Topics covered include:

• International Federation of Accountants code of ethics

• Independence rules

• Australian and international accounting bodies and rules

• Professional conduct

• Business and practical ethics

• Examples of recent ethical breaches and disciplinary action


lotus amity presentations for lawyers

Documents