In 1990, Jim DiGabriele left his solid position as an IRS agent in Bloomfield, NJ, to pursue the dream of owning his own CPA firm. Little did he know he would soon find a niche in an area of practice he knew virtually nothing about.
The Road to Forensics
After spending four years as an IRS agent, Jim was motivated to go out on his own because he felt in his heart that what he was learning as an agent would be highly marketable. He began as a sole practitioner with no clients, but quickly looked for a way to spread the word that he was a CPA in need of work. He soon found that his foray into commercials touting himself as a former IRS agent was a "magnet" in picking up business from clients who had IRS problems, and from attorneys who had their own clients needing assistance with the IRS.
"I would get calls from divorce attorneys who told me they could use me on matrimonial cases involving division of assets or valuing a spouse's business," he says. "I didn't even know what they were talking about."
He soon discovered that his experience in the IRS would prove worthwhile to his client base. Even something as simple as a public record search enabled him to find hidden assets that showed a spouse's real net worth rather than the amount he or she claimed to have in order to settle a divorce case to an advantage. As a result of his reputation for finding solutions in seemingly complex cases, Jim found new work and a new interest: forensic accounting.
The Right Arm of Insurance Settlements
In a practice based on forensic accounting, tax representation, and traditional write-up, Jim often is hired by insurance companies who investigate business interruptions claims, such as a business that suffers a fire or other disaster and files a claim for lost revenues.
Recently, for example, during restoration in a company that suffered a fire, Jim says a claim was filed for 100 percent of lost profits. Jim soon found that the company's claim was false. A public record search on the Internet disclosed a second location, enabling the claim to be reduced by 50 percent.
"I found forensic work engrossing because it's intriguing to try and find some of these trails," says Jim. "If I were independently wealthy, I would do this kind of work for nothing."
Ronald Reagan was the first US President in office to visit the NY stock exchange. In honor of him, the financial markets closed on the day of his funeral.