Fraud is No Small Business

It’s unfortunate but true: fraud happens to small businesses all across the country. Whether it is employee theft or false injury claims, your small business must be prepared for any fraudulent claims that come its way. In order to help you avoid fraud in your workplace, here are just a few ways your small business can guard itself against potential fraudulent situations.

Find Trustworthy Employees

Your small business’s first line of defense against potential fraud is hiring trustworthy employees. Not only will the right employees make sure your business runs smoothly, they’ll also be a second set of eyes when it comes to reporting incidences of workplace fraud.

On the other hand, if you aren’t diligent during the recruiting process by checking all references and backgrounds, you could end up with employees who are the subject of your business’s fraud claims. Whether it’s embezzling money or making fraudulent workplace injury claims, dishonest employees can cause a real headache for your business.

Hire a CPA

Having a certified public accountant on your team is a huge benefit when it comes to cases of financial fraud. By hiring a CPA, your business can conduct annual audits as well as surprise audits. The auditing process will help you discover any financial inaccuracies that are in line with financial fraud.

Whether your small business has one employee running the financial department or multiple, a CPA can perform a secondary run of the bookkeeping numbers to make sure everything lines up. Although hiring a CPA won’t guarantee you’ll uncover fraudulent activity in your workplace, their presence will definitely decrease the potential for financial fraud.

Contact the Authorities

Financial fraud is one thing, but personal injury fraud is something else entirely. If your small business is involved in a slip-and-fall claim, then the first thing you’ll want to do is call the authorities. As the following article questions, “Is there prison time for phony slip-and-fall claimant?” It depends on the severity of the claim, which is why having a police officer on the scene is so important.

If the situation calls for it, a police presence will ensure the situation is properly recorded and reported to your insurance company. Police officers are trained to create detailed reports that can unmask any fraudulent inconsistencies in a claimant’s story.

Collect Claimant and Witness Statements

Sometimes a slip-and-fall claim doesn’t require police presence. However, it’s still important to collect statements from both the claimant and any witnesses. Having these statements on hand will help you in the event the claim is fraudulent and you end up taking the case to court.

Slip-and-Fall Prevention

Just like hiring a CPA can help your small business avoid financial fraud, there are also steps your small business can take to avoid slip-and-fall claims. All it takes on your part is a little workplace diligence. Making sure you remove any obstacles from walkways, cleaning and marking wet or slick spots on floors, keeping office and storefront areas well lit, and using rubber no-slip pads under rugs and door mats will help reduce trips, slips, and falls in and around your small business.

By keeping in mind the pointers above, you’ll create a safe and fraudulent-free workplace.

Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including workplace safety and small business best practices.