Forensic accountants use accounting and auditing techniques to measure the amount of a fraud, explain how a fraud took place, and describe the weaknesses in systems that might have allowed the fraud to occur. Forensic accounting analyzes transactions, explains how they should have been reported, and determines who was harmed or benefited from the incorrect reporting.
Forensic techniques can be useful in examining other questions, e.g., how much inventory was actually on hand at the closing of a purchase.