About
About Me
My name is Ali Rampurawala. I am a certified public accountant (CPA) in Illinois and Texas. I am Certified in Financial Forensic (CFF) by the AICPA, and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
I spent the first 12 years of my career at Deloitte, GE Capital, and Baker Tilly US leading corporate investigations, compliance reviews, fraud risk assessments, and providing litigation support services. After seeing the significant increase in the volume of data and the complexity of how data is captured and stored at almost every one of my clients, I decided to leap into the world of advanced analytics and data science. In April 2022, I stepped away from my Senior Manager role at a well-known and established advisory services firm, and attended a full-time, intensive 16-week Data Science bootcamp (FlatIron).
After completing this intensive program, I decided to reach out to my network and offer to provide high-value services based on both my Forensic Accounting and Analytics experience. My goal is to provide every one of my clients with “white-glove” service, where I perform all of the proposed procedures and analytics myself, along with creating dashboards and drafting appropriate processes and procedures. I understand the intricacies and complexities of working with Internal Audit, Compliance and Legal functions, and apply a thorough, risk-based and documented approach that can withstand any regulatory inquiry or other scrutiny.
In addition to my advanced analytics skillset, at my core, I am a Forensic Accountant that can investigate or analyze any number of potential financial irregularities, whether it be as an independent consultant or an expert witness in the court of law.
I spent the first 12 years of my career at Deloitte, GE Capital, and Baker Tilly US leading corporate investigations, compliance reviews, fraud risk assessments, and providing litigation support services. After seeing the significant increase in the volume of data and the complexity of how data is captured and stored at almost every one of my clients, I decided to leap into the world of advanced analytics and data science. In April 2022, I stepped away from my Senior Manager role at a well-known and established advisory services firm, and attended a full-time, intensive 16-week Data Science bootcamp (FlatIron).
After completing this intensive program, I decided to reach out to my network and offer to provide high-value services based on both my Forensic Accounting and Analytics experience. My goal is to provide every one of my clients with “white-glove” service, where I perform all of the proposed procedures and analytics myself, along with creating dashboards and drafting appropriate processes and procedures. I understand the intricacies and complexities of working with Internal Audit, Compliance and Legal functions, and apply a thorough, risk-based and documented approach that can withstand any regulatory inquiry or other scrutiny.
In addition to my advanced analytics skillset, at my core, I am a Forensic Accountant that can investigate or analyze any number of potential financial irregularities, whether it be as an independent consultant or an expert witness in the court of law.
Profile
Mr. Rampurawala specializes in forensic accounting, third party audits, and investigations. He was most recently a Senior Manager at Baker Tilly US LLP, within its Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services practice. He has over 12 years of experience performing transaction and accounting analyses, leading domestic and international investigations and audits, and using complex data analytics along with his core accounting skills.
Experience
- Led investigation into alleged improper sales practices and fraudulent reporting, including the manipulation and falsification of ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) at a Software as a Services company. Analyzed over $100 million ARR in customer contracts and $200 million in revenue covering a two-year scope period and identified improper application of ASC 606 and falsified ARR bookings resulting in the termination of senior executives and sales personnel and restatement of financials.
- Led investigation into a public company listed on the Japanese Stock Exchange pertaining to improper sales and accounting practices at the entity’s offices in US, China, and Australia. Managed a team of over 30 practitioners in analyzing sales data, T&E entries, reviewing communications of over 50 company employees and executives, and performing forensic interviews of senior executives and management.
- Managed forensic vendor audits for client with over $2 trillion in total assets. Identified over $5 million in recovery due to improperly billed or unsupported services and assisted the business with implementing key changes to bidding, contract negotiation and disbursement processes.
- Managed internal investigation on behalf of a public company’s special litigation committee pertaining to an SEC inquiry. The company managed earnings to meet analyst estimates and improve the company’s stock performance over a period of approximately five years. We identified evidence of earnings manipulation and assisted in settling the matter.
- Performed comprehensive bribery and corruption risk assessments for Fortune 1000 companies resulting in the prioritization of key risks and controls. Utilized Power BI to aggregate over 8 million transactions and apply risk scoring analytics to risk rank over 15,000 vendors. Based on risk rankings, I selected high risk vendors and other third parties, and performed third party audits to identify potential improper payments, transactions, and conflicts of interest.
- Managed transactional review or funds tracing analysis for a variety of financial institutions and intermediaries, including but not limited to commercial banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, payroll processors, and blockchain companies.
Professional Affiliations
- Certified Public Accountant, Licensed in Illinois
- Certified in Financial Forensics, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Certified Fraud Examiner, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
Education
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S., Accountancy
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S., Finance
- Flatiron School – Data Science and Machine Learning 16 week full-time course (completed Oct 2022)
Other Skills
- Advanced in Python and SQL, with a focus in Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics.
- Data visualization skills: Advanced in Power BI and Intermediate in Tableau.