Protect Your Small Business from Internal Financial Fraud
It’s a small business owner’s worst nightmare: internal financial fraud. If you’re running a small business, you want to be able to trust your employees implicitly. After all, they are partners in your success. But every now and then, as heartbreaking as it may be, a bad apple may come along and misappropriate funds and assets from your business for their own gain.
When something like embezzlement happens within your company, you need specialists to help root out where and how the fraud occurred. That’s where the certified financial forensics (CFF) experts at Aldridge Borden and Co. come in. We have years of experience dusting for financial fingerprints and analyzing the fibers in your financial records to track down embezzlement and fraud.
Types of Employee Theft and Fraud
Employees can steal from their employers in all sorts of ways. You probably already have measures in place to prevent asset theft, which is where an employee steals goods or money directly from your establishment. However, you may not be as familiar with or ready to prevent other common types of theft:
Transferal of company funds to a personal account
Check fraud
False invoices
Personal spending passed off as business expenses
Payroll fraud
At Aldridge Borden and Co., we are up to date on all of the most recent forms of fraud. We are ready to investigate potential fraud and help you find ways to protect yourself from the many threats your business may face.
How to Know if You are a Victim of Employee Theft
It is difficult for many business owners to detect theft on their own. Forensic accountants can help you dig in and find the source of any discrepancies you might have. Here are some signs you can look for so that you know when it’s time to put an expert on the case:
Incorrect cash amounts
Missing merchandise or supplies
Account deposits don’t match your ledger
Large or old reconciling items
Employees who are embezzling may also exhibit certain behaviors that could signal they are not trustworthy. If you notice an employee has a sudden change in their work behavior, or they are leaving doors unlocked or parking close to loading areas, you may need to consider updating your security measures.
Even if you are concerned about theft, you want to ensure that you are not unduly scrutinizing every employee. Trust is a valuable resource for any employer-employee relationship. It is a better practice to put in place measures for preventing theft in the first place.
Investigating and Mitigating Risk of Theft
Many business owners still foster the old mindset that fraud is simply a part of doing business. However, with new regulations and advances in cloud computing, that is no longer the norm. Thanks to innovative technology for information security, you can monitor your accounts for any discrepancies and prevent fraud before it costs you.
When an investigation into your accounting becomes necessary, you will need to recover all of your financial data. By keeping up with your own data using software like the OneSource Solution, you make the job easy for forensics investigators because this versatile software provides audit trails and facilitates external audits.
With the OneSource Solution, a financial forensics expert will be able to use any information you have securely stored in the cloud to assess damages and quantify your losses. They will be able to pinpoint where the fraud occurred. The forensic accounting and digital experts employed by Aldridge Borden and Co. can help you with a variety of accounting security concerns using the OneSource Solution:
Identify discrepancies
Root out embezzlement
Detect fraud
Ensure regulatory compliance
Prevent internet fraud
The OneSource Solution by Aldridge Borden and Co. provides an extra level of security and reduces the risk of fraud with the added convenience of cloud-based access to your financial data, cloud-based filing, payroll processing, tax filing, the reduced administrative burden for management, and more. Contact the expert CPAs at Aldridge Borden and Co. to learn more about how the OneSource solution can benefit and protect your business.