Business expenses are a delicate topic in companies, but they require a lot of attention. They carry a huge risk of employee fraud. What is the real source of fraud and how to manage your budget better? First, find the enemy and then you have to destroy him. Here’s a hint on how to do it once and for all!
Recognize the enemy
Who usually squanders company money? A statistical fraudster is male, over 40, working for at least 3 years in the company, holding a minimum managerial position, so he managed to win the company’s trust. How long does it take to uncover his deceptions? Usually up to 2 years. Very often frauds come to light when the employee is no longer in the company.
However, keep in mind that the opportunity makes a thief. What increases the risk of not only unintentional mistakes but also costly employee fraud? First of all. if the company has no proper procedures, information is dispersed, many people are involved in the process and control tools are missing. Secondly, if employees apply for funds on paper forms and the data are entered manually into spreadsheets and manually compiled with other files into the summary report. Thirdly, if the data is stored in many places (someone stores it on a local drive, someone on Google Docs, and someone else on an external drive) and processed by many people. Another risk arises if the time to collect information divides a big difference from the time it is processed. And finally, if there are no tools in the company or there are several different ones between which you need to manually transfer data.
Employee fraud occurs wherever this possibility arises. Nobody likes to feel guilty, but if you don’t have a clear policy for managing the company’s capital, there is no sense of responsibility. The pressure is also conducive to fraud. The pressure of superiors on demanding results leads employees to unfair practices (e.g. generating false orders).
Do you already know who your enemy is? If the procedures in your company are poor, don’t be surprised that there is employee fraud.
Don’t use half measures
Over half of companies experience fraud. The source of uncontrolled costs for companies is primarily business travel. And only 55% of companies have a travel policy (Amadeus). However, even in companies with written policies, up to 50% of employees don’t comply with them. Transfers to another account, business card payment for private purposes, suboptimal means of transport are just a few examples of fraud to which companies are exposed.
However, the procedure is useless if you still use paper applications, manual accounting, and the acceptance path is long and winding. If you want employees to follow an expense policy, make it easier for them. It’s very bothersome when employees have to organize paper bills and invoices for all their business expenses and then fulfill various spreadsheets and collect signatures. The more you simplify the process, the more likely the travel expense report will be on time and will not require corrections. And employees will not wait for months for a refund.
Action: elimination of employee fraud
How to protect your company against fraud? Since the sources of the problem are manual processes, the chaos associated with them and lack of control, give yourself and your team a tool that will eliminate these factors. Replace manual operation with a simple application on the Qalcwise platform. So simple that it will take the employee less time to complete the online application than on paper. The supervisor will automatically receive a notification and be able to submit funds (or not) with one click. Let the employee book hotels and rent cars according to the cost limit (e.g. by integrating the application with Booking.com). During the trip, the employee will be able to report expenses anytime and anywhere. All he or she needs is to take a photo of the receipt or invoice with the smartphone and send it for approval. Next, the data will be accounted for automatically without the need for manual processing. The application will automatically calculate the amount of refund in the chosen currency. Generate a ready report with a few clicks, get the necessary acceptance and create a transfer order. Thanks to this, the employee will immediately receive a refund!
The Qalcwise application not only speeds up and facilitates accounting, but also allows the process to be in line with company policy. It automates this inefficient process starting from trip approval, expense reporting and acceptance to post-trip reimbursement. You can sew any rules, limits, allocate budgets and give employees the appropriate access. You can check the level of budget usage at any time, report costs while controlling your budget, you don’t have to wait for the end of the month! Additionally, thanks to the detailed cost analysis, you can negotiate better discounts with suppliers.
The automation of manual processes is the most effective means of eliminating mistakes and fraud in companies. Qalcwise apps are ready-to-use! You can test Qalcwise applications for Travel Expenses Management (TEM) and Employee’s Expenses Management today. That’s how you will deter employee fraud!
