Selections from the Best Practices Archive

Originally Published in The Cooperative Accountant, Winter 2020 Issue

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend annual checkups for individuals of all ages. Why? Because “regular health exams and tests can help find problems before they start.”

Not only is this true for our personal health, but also for the health of companies. When unchecked for too long, many companies unknowingly foster workplaces susceptible to fraud, which can cause devastating financial and reputational losses.

Vulnerability to fraud can pose a catastrophic risk to any company, but to a small business, it can mean life or death. Plagued by limited resources, small businesses are a ripe environment for employee misconduct.

The most cost-effective way to limit losses due to fraud is to prevent fraud from occurring. An annual fraud checkup is an excellent opportunity to not only test prevention measures, but also to identify vulnerabilities and implement additional anti-fraud controls before an exposure can turn into a full-blown case of fraud. A fraud checkup should include a collaboration of anti-fraud specialists and organizational leadership with extensive operational knowledge, such as internal audit or senior management.

Read more by visiting nsacoop.org/publications/tca or NSAC Connect