According to a recent report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) occupational fraud continues to be on the rise in the US and countries abroad. The 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse provides a wealth of information on workplace crimes, how much they cost businesses and how they were detected. The charts and graphs outlined on this link revealed some surprising statistics:
• Financial statement fraud schemes made up only a small percentage of cases, they were the most costly
• Most fraud perpetrators were from the accounting department
• Anonymous tips were used the most to detect fraud as opposed to audits
So what is a company to do to prevent fraud? One of the most important things to do is to closely monitor your business and keep an eye on all aspects of operations. For small business owners it may be difficult to implement the more traditional control functions (such as separation of duties in the accounting department) but the use of technology can assist the small business owner with controlling fraud. Just recently JP Morgan Chase Bank has released a free fraud protection service for small business account holders that will:
• Control check payments and returns with Reverse Positive Pay
• Keep tabs on your account activity with Security Alerts
• Get Paperless Statements to keep your statements from being intercepted in the mail
Check with your bank to see if they offer similar protection services so that you can make you small business more secure.
The Tech Accountant
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