These processes should be segregated among different individuals.
Allowing one individual to handle cash or checks received, the deposits, and the posting of payments in the system increases the risk of fraud. Ideally, the processing of cash receipts and payments will be separated, with segregation of duties with different people approving invoices, preparing checks, signing checks, and reconciling the bank accounts. Small businesses usually depend on one employee or a bookkeeper to ensure the process in all aspects of the accounting process, including authorization, execution, custody, and posting of transactions. Here are 5 ways to improve internal controls and oversight within your organization to help protect your business from employee fraud: 1. As a business owner, you have to take the necessary steps to ensure you’re protected.
SUB ROSA CONTROLS HOW TO
How to Protect Your Business From Employee FraudĮmployee fraud is more common than you may think, with small organizations (those with fewer than 100 employees) being the most common victims of organizational fraud. We work with other business owners who also recognize the importance financial statements play in understanding the state of the operations of their assets however, with the best of intentions, they delegated the accounting work to an available employee (such as an office manager or admin), or to a bookkeeper with little to no accounting background, while providing no oversight at all. We have worked with several business owners who did not make financial information a priority, instead of focusing only on revenue. The company requested that our accountants take over the role until they could find a replacement and we have continued to provide ongoing internal control accounting support to the company, including oversight for the new bookkeeper.Īs a business owner, often your main focus is on the operations of the business. Needless to say, the company fired the bookkeeper for theft.
One of our accounting managers went to their office the following day to review the books (while the bookkeeper was still away at training) and identified that the bookkeeper had been colluding with a vendor to issue fraudulent payments and splitting the proceeds. They asked us to come in to look at all of the activity and determine if their accounting records were accurate. Earlier this year, a company approached us after identifying some unusual checking activity while their bookkeeper was out of town for a week at training.