According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, U.S. businesses lose an average of 5% of gross revenue annually to fraud. Small business fraud is one of the most common types, but why does it occur so often?

How Small Business Fraud Occurs

Small businesses start with fewer resources than their counterparts. This lack of resources results in increased business fraud risk. For many owners, fraud occurs for one of two reasons. The first is that business owners are often too busy to perform careful audits. The second is that smaller companies typically can’t afford enough staff to separate duties.

Audits for Business Fraud Protection

One of the best resources for business fraud protection is an audit. During these audits of your organization’s accounts, you can identify any discrepancies and investigate them. The problem is that business owners are often too busy with day-to-day operations that they fail to be thorough in their audits. Even worse, some owners fail to perform regular audits altogether.

Reducing Business Fraud Risk by Separating Duties

One of the most common places fraud occurs is within a company’s accounting department. This problem often originates because small businesses combine multiple bookkeeping and accounting functions, like mail reception, payment entering, and payment approval. Combining duties is typical for smaller organizations, but it may increase your risk for fraud.

How Falcon National Reduces Business Fraud

With Falcon National Bank, you can reduce your risk for small business fraud and protect your organization. Falcon National offers Positive Pay —a set of tools to reduce your exposure to fraud. With this service, you can identify unauthorized transactions like altered or counterfeit checks before they have a chance to post. Contact us today to reduce your risk and prevent fraud.