Absolutely with Ashwini and Anant on this. That’s the whole purpose of the exercise. The forensic auditor does not need to have a deep understanding of the business in question. The job is ONLY to point out inconsistencies that crop up from a scrutiny of the Accounts statements, and Notes to Accounts. There can be differences in the interpretation of Inconsistencies. There can be deficiencies even when enough drill-down or drill-through is not done on the Account Statements. That’s all a part of our getting better at the job, and getting better at accommodating new roles into Team VP.
It is the also the job of the Forensics person to therefore stick to FACTS - and perhaps only to point to the inconsistencies - rather than share an opinion this way or that way. If any opinion shared (that is completely SHORT on facts and NOT substantiated by any datapoint) obviously there will be strident objections raised - that’s NOT the job of the Forensics audit, certainly NOT to play the Devils Advocate role - as highlighted in Alembic post. The devil’s advocate role is better played by Seniors who can address both sides of the story equally well - because they are (willing to) engaging deeper into the story - in order to better understand the facts, intentions, and implications.
I don’t think there are insults traded anywhere (especially on this [Alembic post] being referred to repeatedly (Alembic Pharma (Oral Solids ==> Injectables, Onco, Derma, Opthalmic) - #476 by Donald)) by me. I normally refrain from intervening in the red flags discussions - thats a deep subject matter expertise area - and leave it to professionals - CAs/Accountants to delve in. and sort out differing interpretations - not my expertise area, and neither my cup of tea. But I do and will intervene in future too - only to settle important basic guidelines - as in Alembic discussion, and also in Bharat Rasayan thread after this recent spirited animated discussion between passionate folks (I was unaware of for a few hours)
Let’s get better at this - as we understand each other and our intents better - while showing the maturity publicly needed. I am sure after 5-6 such exercises, all of us will settle down to a much smoother working relationship. Rest assured there is RESPECT - there are no insults - certainly not from my side. And I don’t think from Ashwini’s side either.