ServiceInvestigations
Forensic accounting and data analytics
Find the transactions that do not belong in millions that do: in purchases, sales, payroll, claims and stock.
When to call us
When to call us
Costs rise without a reason
Cost per unit, claims or returns move while output and prices do not.
Targets met, stock unsold
Sales booked at quarter-end come back as returns and scheme claims.
A tax notice questions your purchases
Input credit claimed on invoices from suppliers that may not exist.
You need to quantify a loss
For an insurer, a court, the board or a recovery action.
What we do
What we do
Transaction analytics
Full-population tests on purchases, sales, payroll and claims to surface duplicates, outliers, round sums and related parties.
Ghost vendors and employees
Matching vendor and payroll data against attendance, addresses, bank accounts and statutory records.
Sales and channel fraud
Primary and secondary sales, returns and scheme claims analysed to expose channel stuffing and fictitious sales.
Claims analytics
Warranty, insurance and expense claims tested against independent data to find claims that never happened.
Books reconstruction
Rebuilding records that were incomplete, altered or deliberately destroyed.
Loss quantification
A defensible calculation of what was lost, for recovery, insurance or court.
How we work
How it works
- 01
Data
We extract data directly from your systems, securely and completely.
- 02
Tests
Analytics designed around how this kind of fraud is actually committed.
- 03
Verification
Exceptions checked against documents and in the field.
- 04
Findings
Proven transactions, the people behind them and the loss, in a report built for action.
Why Spectra Forensics
Why clients hire us
Analytics finds the exceptions. Forensic accountants who have investigated these frauds before decide which exceptions are fraud.
1,250+ fraud investigations since 2007, and ₹2,000 Cr+ in siphoned funds identified across our cases.
- 011,250+ investigations behind every test we design
- 02Chartered accountants and data analysts on the same team
- 03Findings verified in the field, not just in the data
- 04Loss calculations built to withstand challenge
Questions
Frequently asked questions
01What is forensic accounting?
Forensic accounting applies accounting and investigation skills to find, prove and quantify financial wrongdoing, with the evidence presented so it can be used in a board decision, an insurance claim or a court.
02How is this different from an internal or statutory audit?
Audits test whether records are fairly stated, usually on samples. Forensic accounting assumes something may be wrong, tests the full population of transactions and follows the money to the people involved.
03Can you work with our ERP data?
Yes. We work with SAP, Oracle, Tally and most other systems, and with dealer, claims and payroll platforms.
04Can you help with a GST input credit problem?
Yes. We verify suppliers and goods movement behind questioned invoices, establish what really happened and quantify the tax exposure.
Proof
Case files from this service
Real matters, anonymised. Client names, places and identifying details are withheld.
~₹5 Crundue benefit quantified
The CEO's Three Vendors
A subsidiary CEO routed a rural retail rollout through vendors fronted by his own associates. The money trail led back to him.
- Procurement reconstruction
- Corporate and statutory records
- Ground intelligence
- Funds-flow tracing
US$4.7M+diversion traced to the founder
Zero Skin in the Game
An investor funded a road-construction contractor. Within months, the founder's own contribution had quietly gone to zero and the diversion had begun.
- Records digitisation
- Funds-flow reconstruction
- Personal wealth analysis
- Corporate and property records
Clearedleadership, on fraud and favouritism
The Budget That Wasn't Blown
An anonymous letter accused a school's leadership of a fivefold budget overrun and favouritism. The facts cleared them and surfaced a different risk.
- Spend reconstruction
- Independent price discovery
- Vendor integrity assessment
- Recruitment and pay review
₹1+ Crbad-debt exposure quantified
The Customer That Didn't Exist Yet
A logistics company signed a credit contract with a customer a week before it was incorporated, and paid the customer's sister company to move goods that may never have moved.
- Document and transaction review
- Corporate and tax records
- Transaction analytics
- Personal financial review
~12%of billed contract headcount not real
Workers Who Never Clocked In
A garment manufacturer paid wages and statutory dues for contract workers who did not exist, through a labour contractor and its own time office.
- Payroll and attendance analytics
- Physical headcount verification
- Statutory records reconciliation
- Contractor financial review
₹120–150 Crlender exposure reviewed
Stock That Existed Only on Paper
A borrower inflated stock statements and booked circular sales among related firms to draw working capital, then moved the money into promoter property.
- Stock reconciliation
- Related-party and circular-trade analysis
- End-use of funds
- Corporate records and OSINT
Client names and identifying details are withheld to protect confidentiality. Specific references and client experiences can be shared on request, with the client’s consent.
Talk to us first
Not sure what you need? Ask us.
Initial guidance is free and confidential. Tell us what has happened, and a senior member of our team will help you decide the right next step, even if that step is not an engagement.
Investigations
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Confidential consultation
Discuss your matter with a senior expert.
Tell us what has happened. We will listen, advise on immediate next steps, and propose a scope, in strict confidence.