Monday, June 9, 2014

Keeping an eye on your business

Does your secretary own multiple horse ranches?  Does your bookkeeper drive the latest Porsche to hit the market?  While these may be exaggerated situations (although a small town treasurer in Illinois did steal $53 million over the course of 20 years to fund her horse ranch hobby), it is a good idea for business owners to keep an eye on employees for out-of-the-ordinary indicators that could possibly involve fraud. 

Some examples of possible indicators are employees that are always in financial difficulty; strong resentment of superiors or constant job frustration; and employees living beyond their means, as far as you, the signer of paychecks understands.  These may be innocent situations.  The employee may just be in a rough patch in their life.  It is also possible that there may be family money, lottery winnings, or a spouse with a well-paying job that explains them living beyond the paycheck that you sign.  Overall it is good to have some level of trust of employees, but it is always a good idea to keep an eye out for indicators that something more disturbing may be going on.


John Robert Voynich, CPA