Key strategies for accounts payable fraud prevention

Accounts Payable (AP) fraud is a serious issue that can significantly impact a business. It is defined as any activity aiming to gain unauthorised access to or misuse of an organisation’s funds or assets.

AP fraud can take many forms, including false invoicing, fake suppliers, and unauthorised payments.

It’s critical to prevent fraudulent activities in accounts payable, and AP automation platforms, such as Ocerra, can be a valuable tool in this endeavour.

Preventing AP fraud is essential to ensure a business’s financial health and stability. One of the most effective ways to prevent AP fraud is by implementing internal controls and financial processes.

This includes having policies and procedures in place for the approval and payment of invoices and regularly reviewing and monitoring transactions for any suspicious activity.

Create segregation of duties

One of the key controls that can be put in place to prevent AP fraud is the segregation of duties.

This means separating the roles of the individuals who are responsible for approving invoices, processing payments, and reconciling accounts.

Separating these roles makes it more difficult for an individual to commit fraud without being detected.

AP automation plays a pivotal role in facilitating this segregation. With AP automation systems like Ocerra, you can provide setup role-based access, enforcing separation of duties by design.

This not only enhances security but also improves efficiency in the accounts payable workflow, reducing the risk of fraudulent activities.

Establishing an approval process

Another important step in preventing AP fraud is to implement an invoice approval process.

This includes having a process for the approval of invoices and ensuring all invoices are reviewed and approved before payment.

With AP automation systems like Ocerra, the approval process can be streamlined, ensuring the right individuals handle specific tasks.

Use purchase orders to protect payables

Implementing Purchase Orders (POs) is a robust strategy in the fight against AP fraud.

POs serve as a documented agreement between buyer and supplier, specifying details such as product or service descriptions, quantities, prices, and delivery terms.

By requiring a PO for each purchase, companies establish a clear paper trail that can help prevent fraudulent activities.

Any invoice that arrives without a corresponding PO can be reviewed, reducing the risk of payments to unauthorised suppliers.

Additionally, AP automation solutions like Ocerra enhance this process by seamlessly importing POs and Receipts from MYOB, automating the matching of invoices with POs and Receipts.

Ocerra not only streamlines this integration but also offers standalone, easy-to-use and implemented PO functionality for businesses looking to strengthen their AP processes and further bolster their defences against fraud.

Verifying bank account details

Verification is crucial for the AP team due to its pivotal role in preventing fraud and financial discrepancies.

Ensuring that bank account information on invoices matches supplier records in the ERP system is a fundamental security measure.

It guards against fraudulent activities, such as unauthorised changes to payment details, which can lead to financial losses and disrupt operations.

Ocerra is extracting and checking bank account details from invoices with supplier information imported from your ERP system.

This functionality flags the details that don’t match your ERP details, helping businesses mitigate potential risks and strengthening the security of their accounts payable processes.

Ensuring the accuracy of tax numbers

Verifying tax numbers is a critical task, playing a key role in maintaining financial accuracy and compliance.

Ensuring tax numbers on invoices align with supplier records in the ERP system is a foundational measure to prevent discrepancies.

This verification process safeguards against potential issues, such as incorrect tax reporting or violations of tax regulations.

Thorough tax number verification contributes to the overall financial integrity and regulatory compliance of the accounts payable process.

Detecting discrepancies promptly, Ocerra enhances your defences against tax-related irregularities, providing thorough protection for your accounts payable operations.

Reduce the risk

The use of technology can play a key role in preventing AP fraud.

Automated AP systems such as Ocerra can greatly reduce the risk of fraud by providing real-time monitoring and reporting of transactions and automating invoice matching and approval.

Additionally, many similar to Ocerra AP Automation software solutions offer features such as data encryption, access control, and compliance with industry regulations, ensuring sensitive financial information is protected.

In summary, preventing AP fraud is crucial to ensure the financial stability of a business.

By implementing internal controls, transparent policies, and procedures and utilising technology, companies can reduce the risk of AP fraud and protect their assets.

Regularly monitoring transactions and keeping up-to-date with the latest fraud prevention techniques can also help businesses stay one step ahead of potential fraudsters.

Ocerra and MYOB AccountRight

Ocerra isn’t just a standalone system; it’s a certified MYOB AccountRight application, promising easy and efficient integration. What does this mean for organisations?

• Data Synchronisation: From suppliers to tax rates to purchase orders, Ocerra pulls relevant data from MYOB, ensuring consistency across systems.
• Purchase Order Alignment: Whether it’s the automatic export of PO and non-PO invoices to MYOB or the two-way matching of purchase orders created in MYOB with bills in Ocerra, the synchronicity is impeccable.
• Enhanced Security and Compliance: Ocerra’s fraud protection functionalities, including supplier checks and audit logs, are complemented by its PO features and international tax calculation capabilities.

In essence, Ocerra offers a seamless bridge between its AP automation and MYOB AccountRight, providing organisations with a holistic and efficient accounts payable solution.

Harness automation

In a world where time is money, streamlining operations is no longer a luxury but an absolute necessity.

By harnessing the power of Ocerra, organisations can leap forward in efficiency, accuracy, and financial security.

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