{"id":872,"date":"2015-07-10T14:50:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T07:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/library.uc.ac.id\/?p=872"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:19:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T05:19:41","slug":"to-catch-a-thief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ciputra.ac.id\/library\/to-catch-a-thief\/","title":{"rendered":"To Catch a Thief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"To-catch-a-thief.Entrepreneur-eds-Mei.2015.pg-72\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Q : Which internal accounting controls can help prevent fraud?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Joe Worth<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> This is a vast topic covered by countless books and consultants, so let\u2019s narrow it down to employee fraud and theft. Aside from the obvious \u2013 conducting regular inventory checks and book audits, reconciling cash daily, and personally reviewing financial statements each month \u2013 there are several actions you can take to protect yourself and your business.<\/p>\n

Establish a code of conduct.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you know that Walmart employees are not allowed to accept a bottle of water or cup of coffee from a vendor at a meeting without paying for it? That\u2019s what I mean by a code of conduct. It\u2019s a statement that you will not tolerate unethical or illegal behaviour toward anyone \u2013 customers, uppliers, employees or the company itself.<\/p>\n

While you may not be as strict as Walmart, you should write and post a code of conduct that clearly spells out the rules for employees and the repercussions for not following them. Give the code to everyone upon hire, and periodically thereafter, and require written acknowledgement that they have read, understand and agree to comply with it.<\/p>\n

Now look in the mirror. It\u2019s one thing to demand honesty from your employees, but the code of conduct goes both ways. So you, as the enforcer of the code, need to follow it to the letter. If employees see you take home merchandise or use company property for personal reasons, they may follow your lead \u2013 or worse. If you treat employees with respect, compensate them appropriately and offer opportunities to advance their careers, they\u2019ll have less motivation to steal or cheat.<\/p>\n

Set up organizational checks and balances.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a small business, one peron may wear many hats. But the most dangerous multitasker is a solitary administrator\/bookkeeper who opens the mail, handles deposits and payments and files transaction documents. No one person should control that many aspects of the business \u2013 it\u2019s asking for trouble.<\/p>\n

At one of my companies that processed a high volume of mail, we conveed a dozen senior managers and their assistants to open the mail everyday. With all those hands, the task took about 15 minutes. All checks were set aside, with a tape of their total run. When the day\u2019s bank deposit was prepared, the total had to match the tape run earlier.<\/p>\n

Also avoid assiggning the same person to handle purchasing and vendor payments, or allowing the same employee to manage accounts payable and accounts receivable. If you\u2019re manufacturer or distributor, you should have separate people managing receiving, warehousing and shipping.<\/p>\n

At the very least, set up an operation in which one person controls what comes in (cash, checks, merchandise, supplies) and another handles what goes out (payments, orders, finishhed products).<\/p>\n

Institute policies and procedures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Someone other than the bookkeeper should settle bank and credit card statements every month \u2013 and the person who reconciles the bank statements should not have the ability to enter or modify transactions in the accounting system.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why : One of my partners started working with a new client and began routinely looking at their credit card statements. For one card, there were no records of purchase that matched the charges. An investigation uncovered that the client\u2019s former controller had taken a company card with him when he left and had run up more than $200,000.<\/p>\n

Another way to rein in fraud is to have payroll prepared and authorized by HR but entered by accounting, then checked by management before the funds are sent to the payroll company.<\/p>\n

Also, keep everything locked up that should be locked up, and enforce rigorous key control and computer \u2013 system access, especially for departing employees. Changing locks and passwords company wide when someone leaves or is dismissed is not an overreaction \u2013 it\u2019s smart.<\/p>\n

Watch employees\u2019 behavior.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you notice changes in an employee\u2019s behavior \u2013 files have been misplaced; they don\u2019t want help with a project; they\u2019re giving a customer excessive attention \u2013 look into it. The same goes for an employee with access to critical parts of the company\u2019s operations or finances who never takes vacation time, or who routinely works early or late when no one else is around.<\/p>\n

Trust me, they\u2019re not working those extra hours because they love their job. It might be because they don\u2019t want anyone else to see what they\u2019re doing. Insist that people usa their vacation time and stick to regular business hours.<\/p>\n

Pay attention to any blips in your operation, no matter how minor. At one manufacturing company I worked for, a customer sent back an expensive item for warranty repair. We couldn\u2019t find any record of the sale. Upon further inquiry with the customer, we discovered that our vice president of manufacturing and a foreman were building equipment inside the company, then shipping units out the back door along with their own company\u2019s invoices. We were able to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses berfore turning the two over to the police.<\/p>\n

The key in all this is to trust your gut and recognize that no one knows your company as well as you do. If something doesn\u2019t look or feel right, it\u2019s probably not. By all means, investigate.<\/p>\n

JOE WORTH IS VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND PARTNER AT B2B CFO. @BCBCFO_NJ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UC Lib-Collect<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entrepreneur.May 2015.Hal.72<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q : Which internal accounting controls can help prevent fraud? By Joe Worth   A: This is a vast topic covered by countless books and consultants, so let\u2019s narrow it down to employee fraud and theft. 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