The responsibilities of receiving funds, disbursing funds, writing checks, signing checks, and reconciling bank accounts are often given to a single employee when these duties should be separated. Having one employee responsible for all cash-related functions makes your business vulnerable to fraud.
We all want to trust employees, but often, employees have external pressures that result in workplace theft.
Here are a few steps that you can take to protect you and your company:
- Have monthly bank statements mailed to the owner’s home.
- The owner should review each month’s bank statement for unusual transactions such as declining deposits and unfamiliar payees.
- The owner should also look for forged signatures or endorsements, missing checks, check numbers that are out of order, and reviews where the payee listed does not match the name in the check register.
Business owners should also consider an independent review of the cash accounts and bank statements by an anti-fraud specialist. Please fill out a risk assessment checklist and send it in to be reviewed by one of our Certified Fraud Examiners. For more information about our anti-fraud services, call LSL CPAs at 714.569.1000.
