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Preventing Theft and Fraud in your Company

For small businesses, fraud and theft prevention continues to be neglected due to costly and time-consuming issues. Securing and Protecting your small business can simply be done by assessing your fraud risks and implementing the appropriate safeguards. Here are some steps that can help prevent employee theft and fraud, as well as burglary.

Promote ethical and honest behavior

Company management should establish the roles of owners, managers, and all other employees in promoting ethical and honest behavior. Employees should be made aware that the company values and expects ethical and honest behavior in all business dealings. Fraud will almost certainly have financial costs; however, there may be other serious consequences. In addition to the financial costs, fraud can damage a company’s reputation and destroy employee morale, especially if they have a history of fraud occurrences.

Protect assets by having strong internal controls

One of the most important elements of an effective internal control system is separation of duties, designed to ensure checks, balances and accountability in the financial process. Examine the operations of the business and look for ways in which it may be vulnerable to being victimized by fraud. Regularly review internal controls and implement improvements as business changes. Require receipts and disbursement records for all funds received and disbursed. Examine cancelled checks for consistency of payee and endorsements and comparing the amount and payee on each check with the information recorded on check stubs and on the disbursement journal. Ensure supporting documentation for all invoices is maintained.

A good Security System is also part of internal controls. A Door Access Control System will prevent unverified employees from entering restricted areas. Door Access protects valuable assets, as well as trade secrets. A Security Camera System also plays a very beneficial role in your internal controls. A CCTV System is preventative because people act differently when they know their actions are recorded.

Know your Employees

Many small businesses cannot maintain a complete separation of duties, but they can minimize their fraud risk by using their close contact with employees to observe unusual activities and attitudes. Background checks for new employees are an excellent way to cut down on hiring dishonest employees. At a minimum, they should still be obtained for key positions and for those involved in financial process. The information from the background check should be used along with the resume and all additional information from the job application to evaluate and make a hiring decision. During the interview, the applicant should be asked questions about their application to check their honesty and integrity.

Investigate complaints and suspicious activities

Many small businesses have been victimized by employees who were once good and loyal workers but were tempted and believed they could get away with the crime. Companies should also investigate complaints from customers that statements or letters of delinquency are in error, particularly those with copies of cancelled checks attached. The latest National Retail Security Survey reports that theft cost U.S. retailers $41.6 billion last year including $19.5 billion or 48 percent from employee theft. Every small business owner should consider the risk of being victimized by fraud, assess their strengths and vulnerabilities, and immediately implement the necessary fraud protection measures to safeguard the business.