Accounts Payable Fraud : Ways to Detect and Prevent AP Fraud

The passage of Sarbanes-Oxley back in 2002 forced many companies to look deeper into internal Accounts Payable controls. They realized that is was not an easy task. Implementing internal controls takes time, money, and effort. However, if fraud or missteps are uncovered, it will be worth the investment. If not, you have the knowledge that your ship is tight.

There are several approaches you can try to tighten up your A/P operations and thereby perform an internal audit: which in itself will be fruitful for future audits and investigations. These approaches require some data gathering, procedural changes, and employee education. However, the implementation of these changes should not be a burden to you, your staff, or the company.

Internal fraud is has been around long before Sarbanes-Oxley and will be with us when we retire. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), it is estimated that 5% of all revenue is lost to occupational fraud every year. Fraud is not completely preventable but there are steps you can take to systemically prevent and detect fraud on an ongoing basis.

This webinar will discuss several key areas to investigate, how to uncover fraud, and put a plan in place to prevent it going forward. We will cover duplicate payments where a simple quarterly scan can uncover potential issues. By identifying some strategic areas to review, you can educate your staff on what to look for and modify some applications, either internal or vendor developed, to identify potential hazards. With these two steps alone, you may be able to pinpoint leakages that otherwise may go unnoticed.

Other items discussed will be abnormal payment volumes, check /wire amounts, addresses, and the like. These steps can be taken to monitor, detect, and mitigate fraud in accounts payable.

• Duplicate Payments
li> Benfords Law
• Rounded-Amount Invoices
• Invoices Just Below Approval Amounts
• Check Theft
• Abnormal Invoice Volume Activity
• Vendors with Cancelled or Returned Checks
• Above Average Payments
• Vendor / Employee Cross-Check
• Vendors with a Mail Drop Address
• Summary

• Which data to review?
• Who could be fraudsters?
• Differences between good payments and questionable ones
• Where to look for typical fraudulent items?
• Working with your vendors
• Impact on current operations
• What banks should do?

This webcast will be of a valuable assistance to the below audience.

• Accounts Payable Managers

• Payments professionals

• Operations managers

• Cash management product and sales staff

• Treasury managers

• Commercial bankers

• Corporate treasury professionals

• Payments network providers

• Payments processors