There are two main steps required to stop fraud in your company: Step 1 - identify your fraud risks; Step 2 - implement corporate expense management software controls to minimize those risks.

STEP 1 - Identify Your Fraud Risks

Is your company vulnerable to any of the following?

• Variances between hardcopies and computerized reports;
• Departure and return airfare on different dates but with no corresponding hotel expenses;
• Meals on weekends or in non-work locations;
• Poor descriptions and incomplete documentation such as a missing boarding pass, itinerary or receipt;
• Dates out of sequence;
• Old receipts;
• Nasty or inconsistent explanations to questions regarding claims. A common response is "how dare you question me?" ;
• Copies;
• Altered receipts;
• Credit card statements or printouts instead of receipts;
• Airline tickets:
• Employees have been known to pay for airline tickets using frequent flyer points and then claim the cost of a ticket as an expense from the company. This can be considered a fraudulent activity;
• There are numerous mechanisms employed to defraud an organization through the use of airline tickets. Organizations need to be diligent when dealing with airline ticket exchanges, refunds, partial refunds and possibility the flight being claimed was not taken (evidence of car rental, parking at the home airport, meals or other expenses in the destination are not present).
• Duplications to watch out for:
• These may not be identical amounts as in the case of partial hotel bills;
• Past due charges on mobile phone bills;
• The same expense may be reported twice in one period or in two or more periods with a different description and coding.
• Claiming personal items can also be a source of fraud against the company. These can include:
• Travel for family members;
• Retail or personal purchases;
• Excursions added on to business trips;
• Extra days in a hotel, car rental etc.;
• Gift shop, massages, etc. may be included on a hotel bill;
• Non-authorized trips.
• Organizations should also be diligent in identifying expenses being claimed that were not incurred. This is especially relevant when related to the claiming of meal ex
  Love Your Work
  Work is where most people spend the majority of their waking hours. Not with their family. Not with their friends. Not doing their hobbies. But doing what they want or have to do to make a living. Work. Unfortunately most people are not happy with where they work, who they work with or what they do. And some people hate work. There is hope. You can love work. It is not easy but it is better than being miserable day in and day out.HoursWhat are your work hours? 7-7. 9-5. 8-4. Whatever your “scheduled hours” are, unless you are CEO, you are probably putting in more hours than you are paid for. Start by working your “scheduled hours” and only you scheduled hours. If you find that you need to work more hours you need to step back and ask yourself “why?” if you are not being paid for those hours.E-MailHow often do you check your e-mail? Once per day? Twice per day? Hourly? On the weekends? In the evening? Again, unless you are the CEO, if you check your e-mail more than twice per day during each “work” day, y
  r company vulnerable to any of the following?
  • Variances between hardcopies and computerized reports;
  • Departure and return airfare on different dates but with no corresponding hotel expenses;
  • Meals on weekends or in non-work locations;
  • Poor descriptions and incomplete documentation such as a missing boarding pass, itinerary or receipt;
  • Dates out of sequence;
  • Old receipts;
  • Nasty or inconsistent explanations to questions regarding claims. A common response is "how dare you question me?" ;
  • Copies;
  • Altered receipts;
  • Credit card statements or printouts instead of receipts;
  • Airline tickets:
  • Employees have been known to pay for airline tickets using frequent flyer points and then claim the cost of a ticket as an expense from the company. This can be considered a fraudulent activity;
  • There are numerous mechanisms employed to defraud an organization through the use of airline tickets. Organizations need to be diligent when dealing with airline ticket exchanges, refunds, partial refunds and possibility the flight being claimed was not taken (evidence of car rental, parking at the home airport, meals or other expenses in the destination are not present).
  • Duplications to watch out for:
  • These may not be identical amounts as in the case of partial hotel bills;
  • Past due charges on mobile phone bills;
  • The same expense may be reported twice in one period or in two or more periods with a different description and coding.
  • Claiming personal items can also be a source of fraud against the company. These can include:
  • Travel for family members;
  • Retail or personal purchases;
  • Excursions added on to business trips;
  • Extra days in a hotel, car rental etc.;
  • Gift shop, massages, etc. may be included on a hotel bill;
  • Non-authorized trips.
  • Organizations should also be diligent in identifying expenses being claimed that were not incurred. This is especially relevant when related to the claiming of meal e
    Making 30-40% Return On Your Money Every Month
    It seems like everyday there is a new article how day trading doesn't work and how people lose money doing it. Then I look around at myself and other traders I know make a killing every month from the stock market think wow I'm glad so many people are scared of day trading, more for me! The reality is you can easily make six figures a year trading and many traders make six figure a month (don't want to hype this too much but it's true).The fact is the market has screaming opportunities almost everyday when you see these setup you think only if people knew how easy this is. The key is (pay attention here this could be the most valuable piece of information you could ever read) almost everyday a lot trader go into the market saying I'm going to make $1,000 a day everyday for the rest of my life. This is a good way to lose a lot of money. Highly profitable traders only trade when the market is handing out free money.What I mean by this in a choppy market even the very best trader in the world is probably going to lose money but armature tr
    ou question me?" ;
  • Copies;
  • Altered receipts;
  • Credit card statements or printouts instead of receipts;
  • Airline tickets:
  • Employees have been known to pay for airline tickets using frequent flyer points and then claim the cost of a ticket as an expense from the company. This can be considered a fraudulent activity;
  • There are numerous mechanisms employed to defraud an organization through the use of airline tickets. Organizations need to be diligent when dealing with airline ticket exchanges, refunds, partial refunds and possibility the flight being claimed was not taken (evidence of car rental, parking at the home airport, meals or other expenses in the destination are not present).
  • Duplications to watch out for:
  • These may not be identical amounts as in the case of partial hotel bills;
  • Past due charges on mobile phone bills;
  • The same expense may be reported twice in one period or in two or more periods with a different description and coding.
  • Claiming personal items can also be a source of fraud against the company. These can include:
  • Travel for family members;
  • Retail or personal purchases;
  • Excursions added on to business trips;
  • Extra days in a hotel, car rental etc.;
  • Gift shop, massages, etc. may be included on a hotel bill;
  • Non-authorized trips.
  • Organizations should also be diligent in identifying expenses being claimed that were not incurred. This is especially relevant when related to the claiming of meal e
    Would You Hire Picasso as Your Company's Graphic Designer? Not If You're a Shrewd Business Owner
    Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him. “It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.” So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art. “It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?” “Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied. “B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!” To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.” I love this lighthearted anecdote, most graphic designers do as well. It perfectly illustrates the amount of dedication and energy devoted to a love of art, which is sometimes not appreciated by clients. I know a lot of graphic designers that
    exchanges, refunds, partial refunds and possibility the flight being claimed was not taken (evidence of car rental, parking at the home airport, meals or other expenses in the destination are not present).
• Duplications to watch out for:
• These may not be identical amounts as in the case of partial hotel bills;
• Past due charges on mobile phone bills;
• The same expense may be reported twice in one period or in two or more periods with a different description and coding.
• Claiming personal items can also be a source of fraud against the company. These can include:
• Travel for family members;
• Retail or personal purchases;
• Excursions added on to business trips;
• Extra days in a hotel, car rental etc.;
• Gift shop, massages, etc. may be included on a hotel bill;
• Non-authorized trips.
• Organizations should also be diligent in identifying expenses being claimed that were not incurred. This is especially relevant when related to the claiming of meal e
  What Qualities Must A Leader Have In Managing A Business?
  While there are many qualities that differentiate a leader from the rest of the pack, there are some important ones that are common to most business leaders that help them to manage work and people. These are as follows.Ambition:– The person with a dream is the most likely to attain success, simply because he or she has a goal to work towards. Someone with the drive and high aspirations will be propelled towards the determination and diligence to make a success of their business. Every great leader, in business and in other fields of life has an objective that they work to achieve and this becomes the driving force that shows others the vision of what can be. This inspires the leader and the people around him or her towards the actions required to make the vision a reality.Knowledge of the business:– A sound understanding of the dynamics of the business that they are in is a common quality amongst great business leaders. They learn from books, people and experience to develop a keen sense of the workings and history of their b
  rsonal items can also be a source of fraud against the company. These can include:
• Travel for family members;
• Retail or personal purchases;
• Excursions added on to business trips;
• Extra days in a hotel, car rental etc.;
• Gift shop, massages, etc. may be included on a hotel bill;
• Non-authorized trips.
• Organizations should also be diligent in identifying expenses being claimed that were not incurred. This is especially relevant when related to the claiming of meal expenses and meal per diem expenses;
• Inconsistencies such as taxi and rental car claims for the same portion of trip or mileage calculations that are clearly inflated;
• Overstatements may or may not be deliberate, however they include typographical errors ($34.95 reported as $3,495) and incorrect exchange rate conversions.

There are numerous other less obvious activities that fail to comply with legislative and/or company policies. Examples of these failures include improper coding, such as: hotel bills that include meals, phone, etc., that are reported as lodging; car rental which may not fall into a company authorized class; and the use of prohibited vendors.

STEP 2 - Implement Corporate Expense Management Software Controls

In order to minimize the risk of fraud in your company, your corporate expense management software controls should be designed to provide and support the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When, and Why). They must ensure that all reasonable, authorized expenses incurred in order for a staff member to perform their job responsibilities are paid with the corporate credit card and documented with an original, valid, unaltered receipt, and they must be implemented throughout the entire organization, at all levels and in all functions.

In practice, these corporate expense management software processes, controls, and procedures are very broad. They relate to items such as approvals, authorizations, verifications, reconciliations, segregation of duties, reviews of operating performance, background investigations, and physical security. They need to be embedded in your day-to-day management and monitoring processes, and they need to also leverage available information technology.

Segregation of Duties as a Corporate Expense Management Control

Given the nature of accounts payable and the related functions, segregation of duties is a crucial consideration. Following is a partial list of duties related to accounts payable and how they should be segregated.

1. The person responsible for bank reconciliation should not:
• Handle unclaimed property reporting
• B