Fraud is a real and growing problem for organisations and companies of all sizes. For SMEs, it can be catastrophic. According to the Annual Fraud Indicator 2016, the cost of fraud to the UK economy is £193bn a year and of course that is just the fraud we know about.
The danger of fraud if left undiscovered is that the perpetrator becomes emboldened in your company and it can repeat the behaviour. We have known situations where detection has taken five years or more by which time small amounts of expense fiddling have increased to large thefts with a real impact on the bottom line. Often it is a company’s auditor who spots irregularities but sometimes it can be an employee whistleblower or a change of manager who highlights a reason for suspicion. The only lesson for business managers is to be ever vigilant.
If you suspect fraud is taking place in your organisation and require expert advice please email us on info@stanleycarter.co.uk or check our website for further details www.stanleycarter.co.uk