Being the victim of fraud can put a lot of things at risk for a company. One type of fraud that is becoming a bigger and bigger problem lately in the business world is payments fraud. This is underscored by the results of a survey by The Association for Financial Professionals.
The survey was of almost 700 treasury and finance professionals. The results pointed to business payments fraud being on the increase in the United States. According to the survey results, over three-fourths of companies experienced such fraud last year.
So, payments fraud is something U.S. businesses may want to vigilantly be on the lookout for. There are various steps companies can take when it comes to their accounts payable to try to help prevent payment fraud. Such measures include:
- Carefully monitoring accounts payable
- Collecting and reviewing data on supplier invoices
- Using technology to help with tracking payments and creating audit trails
- Watching out for duplicate or suspicious invoices
- Carefully tailoring the authority given to employees when it comes to accounts payable to their specific job duties
Payments fraud can cause substantial financial damage to a company. How businesses respond to fraud can have impacts on their chances of recovering such losses. There are legal actions companies can pursue to try to obtain recovery in the wake of fraud. It is important to note though that such actions can be time-sensitive and have many legal complexities. So, seeking out quality legal guidance in a timely manner can be important for companies that have been struck by payments fraud.
