Fraud is a type of theft that is carried out by someone who has control over the funds. It can take many forms, from accounts payable fraud to payroll fraud and financial statement fraud. In this article, we will explore the different types of frauds used in accounting and how to protect your business from them. Accounts payable fraud occurs when someone exploits your company's payroll system to steal money. An employee with access to the payroll system will have an easier time committing this type of fraud, but it can also be done by someone outside the company with extensive hacking skills. Financial statement fraud is committed for a variety of reasons.
Most commonly, the fraudster manipulates financial records to make your assets, income, or total net worth appear larger than they actually are. They may also describe their debts, liabilities, and losses as if they were more thorough than they actually are. This type of fraud is generally committed to guarantee loans or avoid the consequences of not achieving financial goals. Misappropriation of assets is another type of fraud that can occur in accounting. This happens when an employee or business owner steals money for their own personal gain.
The best way to avoid this type of fraud is to maintain detailed inventory and financial records and demonstrate any losses. Working with your bank to prevent unauthorized transactions can also help. Tax fraud occurs when a company avoids high tax rates because they are in a higher tax bracket. Business owners sometimes struggle to pay less taxes by downplaying their company's profits or claiming false deductions, lying on their tax returns or filing a falsified return. Tax evasion occurs when companies or individuals avoid paying taxes completely. Identity theft is a complex form of business fraud because a company can be the perpetrator or the victim.
Identity theft is when someone steals someone else's personal information and uses that information to steal from them. Scammers could open a new line of credit with your social security number, make purchases with your credit card number, commit crimes with a false identity, and more. A company can commit identity theft by stealing bank account information or other personal data from its customers. At the same time, companies can be attacked through data fraud. Employees with sensitive information can use that data to steal from a company or commit other crimes.
Another company could also steal this information through a business-to-business transaction. Your Bank Midwest business account includes fraud monitoring tools that can help you reduce your concern about security breaches or the misappropriation of assets. From security and positive pay alerts to employee permissions and access controls, services are available to help you monitor your finances and detect fraud before it harms your business. Financial statement fraud is one of the most harmful types of fraud for a company. Exaggerating income, profits and assets, along with underestimating liabilities (or simply hiding them), are the most common activities in this type of fraud. Enron and WorldCom are two semi-recent, high-profile cases involving financial statement fraud. Misappropriation of assets is one of the most common types of employee fraud and often the easiest to commit.
Think about stock price manipulation, increased year-end bonuses, favorable loan terms, or other indirect benefits derived from financial statement fraud. Payroll fraud is the most common type of fraud and occurs when there is no transparency in payroll records. This is done by manipulating the payroll system and not by reconciling legitimate salaries. Asset misappropriation is another common type of employee fraud and often the easiest to commit. It involves taking cash even before it enters the company's accounting system and is very difficult to discover because it requires finding evidence of something that hasn't been recorded yet. The misuse of company assets is also problematic because it involves the unauthorized use of the company's assets and can expose the company to significant liability. As our world is increasingly moved by information and technology, the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets is increasing. Affinity fraud refers to fraudulent activity committed by a person to whom you entrust the company's finances.
This is the act of stealing company assets with personal intentions, which is why it is also known as internal fraud. Consumer fraud is on the rise as well, whether it's a violation of the organizational system or false tax returns filed for large refunds. Prepayment fraud occurs when a thief requires you to send money in advance for payments, products, or services. Cashier's check fraud is a simple banking scam that is based on the fact that it can take weeks for a cashier's check to be verified. You'll need to take different steps depending on the financial fraud committed by an offender in your name. The best way to protect your business from fraud and corruption is to understand the risks and take preventive measures. The next most common type of fraud scheme is bribery and corruption, which account for approximately 30% of all discovered cases. In conclusion, there are many different types of accounting-related frauds that businesses should be aware of in order to protect themselves from potential losses.
Working with your bank to prevent unauthorized transactions can help reduce your risk as well as monitoring tools that can help detect any suspicious activity before it harms your business.
