When we mention AI to those outside the profession, the question we hear most often is some version of: will it put you out of a job?
The honest answer, from where we sit, is the opposite. AI has made the team at Frenkels Forensics considerably busier. Not because we spend time managing it, but because it has opened up work that was not previously viable.
Here is what we mean.
The problem was never a lack of skill
Forensic accountants have always been able to follow money. The real challenge was always deciding when to handle data at scale. Complex investigations, in particular, often involve datasets that were simply too large for proportionate manual analysis: transaction logs spanning years, SQL databases with no documentation, and financial records from multiple entities that do not obviously connect.
Before AI, firms either left that kind of data on the table or needed a level of resource that made instruction cost-prohibitive for many matters.
AI changes all that.
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What AI actually does in our practice
At Frenkels Forensics, our forensic accountants use AI within controlled coding environments to write and refine analytical code. This distinction matters. The AI does not perform the analysis. Our experts do. AI assists with the mechanics: handling unfamiliar data structures, writing queries, and documenting methodology clearly and consistently.
This approach is consistent with the requirements of CPR Part 35, FPR Part 25 and CrimPR19. While only the practice direction to CPR Part 35 explicitly requires that expert evidence must represent the independent product of the expert, this principle applies implicitly across all three arenas. AI assists with how we get to the analysis. It does not produce the analysis itself.
Consider a recent example. A client presented one of our forensic accountants with a 10-gigabyte SQL database, no accompanying manual and no clear schema. Working with AI, we understood the data structure, extracted the relevant records, and began meaningful analysis within minutes. The AI did not interpret the data. It made the data accessible so that our experts could apply their professional expertise to it.
Why this creates more work, not less
Most people assume that faster tools mean less work. In forensic accounting, however, the opposite is frequently true.
When data that was previously inaccessible becomes available for analysis, new lines of enquiry open up. As a result, cases become more detailed, not simpler. The scope of what a forensic accountant can credibly offer in evidence expands. Solicitors and barristers can ask more of their experts, and those experts can deliver more. Consequently, the result is not a reduction in work. It is an expansion in what is possible.
AI has not replaced forensic accounting. Instead, it has broadened the range of matters where forensic accounting can make a demonstrable difference.
Transparency and court requirements
A question we hear frequently from legal teams is how AI use can be explained or defended in court. It is a fair concern, and one we take seriously.
The judiciary has addressed this directly. Updated guidance from the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, issued in October 2025, makes clear that AI use must be transparent and that those using AI retain personal responsibility for all material it produces. The same principle applies to expert witnesses.
Speaking at the Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference on 6 November 2025, Mr Justice Waksman, Judge in Charge of the Technology and Construction Court, described as a “gross breach of duty” a solicitor’s insistence on providing an expert with an AI-generated draft report to use as the expert’s own. The message is clear: AI can assist experts, but it cannot replace their independent judgement or produce their conclusions for them.
At Frenkels Forensics, we document methodology at every stage using iterative stages of Python-based analysis. This means we can demonstrate precisely what the AI undertook, what code it produced, and how our team verified and applied that output. Our forensic accountants run the code, check it, and interpret the results. The process is fully auditable, reproducible, and keeps the expert firmly in control.
A note on data security
Concerns about data confidentiality are understandable and legitimate. By using AI within a controlled coding environment rather than uploading client data to a general-purpose platform, we address this concern directly. Our forensic accountants work with data structures without exposing the underlying information to any external system.
The broader picture
When computers arrived in professional services, many people feared job displacement. What happened instead is that the nature of the work changed. Computers did not eliminate accountants. They changed what accountants could do and raised the standard of what clients and courts expected.
AI appears to follow the same pattern. It is a tool that expands professional capability. The expertise, judgement, and accountability remain with the people applying it.
For solicitors and legal teams instructing forensic accountants on complex fraud and sophisticated money laundering matters, the practical implication is this: AI changes what is possible. And it changes it in your favour.
Frequently asked questions
Does using AI mean the forensic accountant is no longer the expert?
No. The forensic accountant remains the expert throughout. AI assists with data processing and code writing, but the analysis, interpretation, and conclusions are entirely the work of the accountant. In court, the expert is the person who signs the report. CPR Part 35 is explicit on this point: expert evidence must represent the independent product of the expert.
Can AI-assisted analysis be challenged in court?
Any methodology can face challenge. The answer, therefore, is transparency. By documenting each stage of the process, including what the AI undertook and how the team verified the output, the approach becomes fully auditable.
In practice, a well-documented AI-assisted methodology is often more transparent than traditional manual analysis. Furthermore, the Academy of Experts published guidance for expert witnesses on the use of AI in January 2026, confirming that experts must be prepared to explain and justify any AI use to the court or opposing side.
Is client data at risk when AI is used in a forensic investigation?
Not when it is used correctly. Working within a controlled coding environment means client data does not require uploading to any external platform. The AI learns how to handle the data structure without exposure to the underlying information. Data security is built into the workflow from the outset. Notably, the October 2025 judicial AI guidance specifically cautions against entering private information into public AI tools.
What kinds of cases benefit most from AI-assisted forensic accounting?
Cases involving large or complex datasets tend to benefit most. This includes serious fraud investigations, POCA proceedings with extensive financial records, disputes involving multiple entities or jurisdictions, and any matter where data volume has previously made thorough analysis cost-prohibitive.
In POCA cases, forensic accountants regularly examine and, where appropriate, challenge the benefit figure the Crown Prosecution Service has calculated, which directly influences any confiscation order the Crown Court makes (see the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002). If the data feels unmanageable, that is often a signal that AI-assisted analysis could add real value.
Does AI-assisted analysis cost more to instruct?
In many cases, the opposite is true. AI allows complex data to receive more efficient processing, which can reduce the time certain stages of the analysis require. Where AI genuinely changes the picture is in making previously uneconomic analysis viable: manual work that would have been prohibitively expensive to commission can now proceed within a realistic fee budget.
Talk to us about your case
Frenkels Forensics works with solicitors and legal teams on fraud investigations, POCA proceedings, and complex financial analysis. If you have a matter where the data feels unmanageable, that is often exactly where we can help.
Call us on 0330 118 8200 or visit our crime and fraud service page to find out more.
This article has been prepared for general information purposes only. It does not constitute legal or professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. Frenkels Forensics accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on the content of this article. If you require advice specific to your circumstances, please contact us directly.
“Thank you ever so much for the work and advice you have provided . The report was clear and accessible and will not hesitate to recommend you all.”
“I am indebted to you for your contribution, and for explaining things in plain English such that even lawyers can understand the issues”
“May I take this opportunity to thank you for your assistance in this matter. Counsel and the judge said that your report was one of the best they had seen in that it was concise and technically easy to understand.”