MANAGEMENT

Deter Fraud with Forensic Techniques

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person taking inventory on a tablet

BONUS: 11 services that create a “control culture.”

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

Trained forensic professionals investigate accounting and financial transactions that are, or will become, subject to legal proceedings. It is an early step in a potential war, and many times it is the first shot.

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Attorneys and c-level executives are often not familiar with forensic techniques and see them as a means to quantify a loss. Financial forensics also provides a means to deter and detect fraud. Today, I share my views on the value of forensic techniques used to deter fraud and encourage CVAs to consider attending the CTI’s Forensic Accounting Academy™ or Fraud Risk Management courses offered through the MAFF programs.
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Six Ways an Internal Audit Helps

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The six principal tasks required.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

Every business has a system of internal controls. Very small businesses likely rely on luck and the honesty of their one or two office staff. Small businesses rely on their independent auditors to check their system once a year and large companies employ one or more internal auditors on their staff.

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This post explains the internal audit process that applies to every size business. Businesses have voluminous transactions; multiple people involved, companywide; and assets that need protection.
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Systems Must Be Used, Not Just Implemented

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Internal controls are no good on their own.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

I have addressed the importance of controls when trying to get a client. But it is also important to retain the client. A good system that is not monitored is a sure way to not only lose the client but be kept awake at night.

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If you have been around long enough, you’ve experienced a theft at a business or not-for-profit organization. For nearly ever fraud I have seen, the slightest effort would have thwarted those frauds. Nowadays the only frauds I encounter are new engagements, where I try to quantify what was taken.
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What Internal Controls Mean to Clients

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man writing in notebook

And how to explain them.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

What are internal controls? Auditors widely use this term. It also appears multiple times in engagement letters for audits of businesses and not-for-profits, but I do not believe many outside of the accounting profession really know or understand what internal controls are. I will try to explain it here.

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Internal controls refer to an organization’s system of deterrence, oversight, checks and balances. An illustration is where someone in a business writes and mails the checks to pay a bill. If this same person then receives the bank statement and performs the reconciliation of that account, there would not be any control or oversight on that person and whether the payment was proper and not misdirected. They are checking their own work. This is how many frauds occur.
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