Accounts Payable Fraud

Preventing accounts payable fraud is no easy task in the best of circumstances however using AP automation helps to spot and stop new breaches by checking information right from the start. Making sure that data such as pay amounts, expenses, and even the address are correct helps ensure your documents are safe and secure to process.

Accounts Payable Fraud Risks: Prioritizing Risk Management

Why should CFOs make leveraging advanced technologies a priority in their Accounts Payable fraud risks strategies to win the fight against fraud? Because security not only brings a piece of mind for an organization but also a competitive edge by simultaneously streamlining your Accounts Payable process.

Three types of advanced technologies that your business needs to prevent fraud fraud in its billing services are: digitalization, big data and machine learning. Yooz Accounts Payable automation utilizes all three of these technologies along with artificial intelligence (AI) and many others to fight against fraud in the Accounts Payable process.

Here are more ways Yooz’s advanced technologies help fight fraud:

Frequency Analysis:
- Outstanding amounts versus usage history
- Recognition of potential duplicate invoices and/or payments
RPA (robotics process automation):
- Systemization of internal control rules
Traceability:
- Identification of fraud attempts
- History of who accessed documents
Shape/Metadata Analysis:
- Automatic alerts in case of changes in vendor bank details
- Automatic identification of forged documents (invoice, P.O., etc.)

Advanced technologies are essential to your companies fight against fraud so now is the time to start the internal conversations to get your leadership and team onboard with digitalizing your invoice and payment processes with an Accounts Payable automation solution.

Yooz - Infographic - Game of Fraud episode 4 - The return of the CFO - Web

Accounts Payable Fraud Detection for the Purchase-to-Payment Process

While fraud has always been a threat, the increasingly global nature of business has caused a similar rise in attacks. And, unfortunately, criminals are getting better and better. Discovering and eliminating this threat as soon as possible can save companies an immense amount of time, money, and headache.

This is why accounts payable fraud detection plays such a key role. Accounts Payable automation helps detect the three main types of easily missed fraud in the invoice and payment process: duplicate invoices, phantom vendors, and missing checks.

Yooz leverages a number of advanced automation technologies to automatically validate and detect fraudulent invoice and documents as soon as they enter the invoice process. Read how these techniques can be your biggest ally throughout the entire payment process.

Strength in Numbers: How Machine Learning Sniffs Out Duplicate Data

It only takes a slip of a finger to mistype, but that one little error can have a negative impact that snowballs throughout an organization. And when your employees are buried under mounds of paperwork doing routine tasks, that slip becomes increasingly common. The solution? Using AP automation machine learning on duplicate data.

Technology in the form of artificial intelligence can take over the repetitive work and rapidly check for duplication. Not only will this reduce processing time but also creates a check/balance against errors and fraud plus generate actionable, real-time financial intelligence.

How secure is your finance department?

U.S. businesses will lose an average of 5% of their gross revenues to fraud.

In this white paper “Game of Fraud: Return of the CFO” you can learn:

How today’s CFO is going to be effective in leading the fight against fraud by adapting their defenses to face new and more aggressive forms of fraud and fraudsters.
Three things that CFOs should be asking themselves (and answering) about the security of your business’ Accounts Payable process.
Identifying types of fraud and the risks associated with each.
The seven key things finance leaders can do to help mitigate, even prevent, fraud and other types of breaches.

8.12.19 WhitePaper_GameofFraud-US FINAL_Page_01

Safety in Numbers: Why Every Company Needs a Digital Audit Trail

Everyone knows that feeling of dread which seems to take over just when it's time to get receipts in order for the tax return. This is especially true when things have fallen behind (for whatever reason) and now there is deadline for matching a particular purchase from months ago with bank or credit card statements, having to assign amounts to a particular project or expense category, or making sure not to double-book items. Perhaps even unearthing an unpaid invoice in the process. When you're not caught up - or even if you are - having documentation every step of the way helps. A lot.

This situation isn't much different for a business, where accounting departments or accounts payable teams are constantly processing reams of expense reports, vendor invoices, and other documents. If anything, for them, being behind causing all sorts of reporting issues and greatly increases the risk of error and accounts payable fraud.

For this reason alone, having a digital audit trail is a priority.

Make No Mistake: How Automation Nixes Human Accounting Errors

To err is human, but in accounting it can have serious financial consequences. In fact, when it comes to accounting human errors as small as just one slip of a finger on one entry to throw off the entire bookkeeping process. However, when staff must manually enter details from invoices and other documents - and do so over and over - there will inevitable be mistakes. These range across the entire accounting spectrum, from incorrect tax and purchase order numbers to wrong amounts and even company address that don't match up with the existing system information.

Taken together, these typos will lead to delays as accounts payable teams have to spend extra time in their attempt to confirm the correct details. Even worse, if mistakes do slip through, costly accounts payable fraud becomes a very real threat to the bottom line.

How to Nix Accounts Payable Fraud Schemes

Fraud attempts have always been a part of our daily life, surrounding us with financial mischief, tricks, and pitfalls in an attempt to steal. This is especially true when it comes to the Accounts Payable department; the place that handles all of a business’ invoices and payments on a daily basis.

In fact, Accounts Payable fraud schemes have become increasingly sophisticated, with cases going far beyond just submitting a false or duplicate invoice with the hopes that it will slip through without drawing attention.

So, what’s a modern organization to do to prevent and detect fraud attempts before they become costly? The smart ones turn to AP automation for help.

Always On Guard and On Time: Why Good AP Internal Controls Matter

Accounts Payable (AP) errors and fraud are a widespread problem that can take many forms, some right at the start of the payments process and others occurring anytime until the very end. Implementing an AP automation system can help prevent these errors and fraud, but automation doesn’t determine everything – for lack of a better word – automatically. Clearly drawn rules and permissions are important for establishing and maintaining a strong AP internal controls process.

Auditing Accounts Payable Invoices: The Benefits of Automation

Traditionally the process of auditing Accounts Payable invoices has been done manually. This involves the AP staff reviewing each invoice and comparing it to purchase orders, delivery receipts, and other documentation. This process can be time-consuming, error-prone, and costly, particularly for those businesses that handle a large volume of invoices.

However, thanks to AP automation, it is now possible to automate many of the manual tasks involved in the invoice audit process. From capturing data to creating a digital audit trail, automation helps businesses reduce the risk of errors and speed up their invoice approval process.

Why Implement Segregation of Duties in Accounts Payable

Safeguarding finances and maintaining strong internal controls are crucial for any business success. This is even more important in the face of the significant threat posed by Accounts Payable fraud, and when implementing segregation of duties in Accounts Payable and other internal controls becomes paramount.

Segregation of Duties (SoD) – the practice of assigning multiple individuals distinct responsibilities - establishes a system of checks and balances that is key to preventing any one person from having complete control. By implementing such a system, organizations can minimize the risk of fraud, reduce errors, enhance data accuracy, and maintain integrity in their accounting processes.

Everything You Need to Know about UK SOX for Accounts Payable

In response to high-profile corporate failures, the UK government carried out investigations that ultimately led to the creation of reform proposal, commonly referred to as UK SOX for Accounts Payable. This legislation is targeted as enhancing the credibility of financial reporting, strengthening corporate governance, and mitigating Accounts Payable fraud through the introduction of more stringent requirements for directors, public disclosures, fraud resilience, and audit policies.

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