Considerations to Prevent Small Business Frauds
Monday, March 31st, 2008
Occupational frauds is a big internal business. Every instance of fraud cause small company a loss of $127500 on an average. Fraud probably occurs in every organization, and you may not be able to totally eliminate it. However you can do something to minimize the risk of fraud.
Information is sensitive and accounting information is even more. Handing over the accounting information poses threat for business secrets. Many Small businesses thinks in this fashion.They are often afraid that if the information is disclosed to a third party be it auditor or competitor , it can be misused. It is hard to change this attitude but there is something which small business owners can do to combat the frauds.
Small business have every reason to worry about fraud. But there is nothing to fear this virus. This is the financial worm that has to be removed from the roots to combat the frauds. There are some useful tips to combat the occupational frauds.
Oversight Process
The second important factor is review of the accounting information. Just because the owners have the authority to sign does not mean that there are no frauds in the accounting databases. Cash is not the only thing to be followed in any business, one more thing that plays a crucial role in commission of the frauds and that is books of accounts such as biils, purchase orders and payment terms. Reasonable internal controls are critical in a small business. It is accepted that the small business owners have some more priority works but to review the accounts they need to spare the time.IF THEY THEMSELVES CAN NOT do it then they should buy the softwares which can perform the requisite functions on their behalf.
Limited controls
Small businesses rarely have sufficient personnel to adapt adequate controls; “one-person accounting departments” as in are the rule, not the exception. Owners are unable to look into the accounting matters. But the business owner should actively understand and verify the financial information reported to him or her. The owner can engage a external auditors to attest to the credibility of the financial information, even if the company doesn’t have a regular audit.The controls in the organisation needs to be checked up regularly for the deficiencies and loopholes, though not the only one, internal controls are the powerful deterrents of the frauds.
Employee Education
A small business owner if takes few cautions he can stop many occurrences of frauds in his organisation. Most crucial factor in any occupational fraud is the empoyee.If there are no employees then there will be no occupational frauds but without employees no growth of the business.Educated employees adds value to business. Now it is well accepted that education about the frauds helps to combat the frauds successfully.Making the employees aware about the nature of frauds makes them aware about the methodologies and they do not remain the passive visitors to the instance of the fraud.Most of the times it is observed that the employees have blown up the whistles against the frauds where they have come to know that what is happening is called fraud. Some of the big financial scandals like Refco or Enron are the outcomes of the employee awareness about frauds. Anti-fraud training is an essential factor.
Adequate employee prescreening
Small businesses rarely spend the money to check work references, criminal records or professional recommendations of potential hires or require applicants to undergo drug screening, psychological testing and other vetting procedures. It is frequently seen that the employees in small softare companies are recruited based on the interview and the resume, however no checking is done regarding his past performances,whether employee was involved in any fraudulant case or not.
Undesirable applicants know this and thus gravitate to small businesses. The problem, according to ACFE study, is that about 7% of employees have a history of workplace theft and fraud. This small but costly group know the degree of scrutiny into their past likely will be minimal; all too often, they are right.
Too much trust
The third factor for large fraud losses in small businesses involves the human element. In a situation where employees know each other well, it is natural for them to trust one another. Indeed, the intimate familial atmosphere of a small business is one of its most appealing features. Most of the time, believing in your coworkers is well founded, but not always. The dichotomy is that trust is an essential element of business as well as an essential element of fraud. Never having faith in your employees is a bad thing; so is always trusting them. The goal is to strike a balance between the two. Or, as Mark Twain said, “Trust everybody, but make sure you cut the cards.”
These few things a small and medium sized business owner should adhere to in order to reduce the median losses of $98000 caused to it every year.
About the author
Mr. Mayur Joshi authored this white paper. He is a Fraud Examiner and is associated with Indiaforensic research foundation for more than 5 years.
Tag: Consideration to prevent small business fraud
Read about the Nigerian 419 Letter. http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/internet/nigerian419.shtml