Finlay & Associates: Fraud Examination

Risk Management

While the risk of fraud in your organization is high, some activities have a higher risk associated with them than others.  Let Finlay & Associates fraud risk management advisors offer you the essential advice you need to prevent and detect fraud in all your high-risk activities. 

Prevention Controls

Having identified the risks, and weaknesses in your organization we will use our experience to design and implement, systems and procedures to minimize the risk of fraud. This could include; Fraud Policy, Conflict of Interest Disclosures, Whistle blowing Policy and the setting up of a Hot Line to allow your employees a means of disclosing information which may be relevant to any investigation.

Fraud Training

Your staff are the eyes and ears of your organization. Without them you cannot possibly hope to minimize the risk of fraud. We can teach them what to look for so they can help you defeat the fraudster. We can provide interactive computer based programs that will teach the basics of fraud schemes.

Fraud Examination

If your company has, or you think you may have, been a victim of fraud, our staff can examine your records and prepare and build a case for litigation should you wish to proceed to secure a conviction

All the evidence suggests that your organization could be more at risk to an incidence of fraud than ever before. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2010 Report to the Nation, 5 percent of revenues will be lost this year to fraudulent activity. The time to act is now before your company becomes the next victim. Let us examine your systems and procedures from the fraudsters’ viewpoint, and provide you with an assessment of your vulnerability to fraud.

Charity and Non-Profit Fraud and Abuse

Finlay & Associates will provide your organization with innovative and specialized services designed to improve your organization's defenses against fraud and abuse.

Several facts have become quite apparent in recent years:

1.   Nonprofit organizations are clearly not immune from the rising incidence of occupational fraud and abuse

2.  Audits by Chartered Accounting firms, even those of the highest quality, provide very limited protection against fraud

3.  Protecting an organization against fraud before it happens and active, ongoing monitoring for fraud and abuse have become of paramount importance in today's environment

Donors, members, funding sources, and others expect more of today's nonprofit organizations. Gone are the days when the public felt sorry for nonprofits that became the victims of fraudsters. Now, nonprofits are criticized for not taking appropriate steps to protect their valuable resources from fraud and abuse. Some nonprofits have been punished twice for failing to prevent fraud - once by the fraudster and once by the general public, through its termination of support for an organization that doesn't protect itself from such a common act of wrongdoing.

Don't wait for fraud to strike before you take action to protect your organization!

There have been a lot of high profile cases in the news. This has had a devastating affect in the Charity and Non-Profit sector.

What is your organization doing to protect itself from fraud and abuse?

Finlay & Associates offer some of the most important services available to your organization in its fight against fraud and abuse. We offer anti-fraud services in all three critical phases of fraud protection:

1. Fraud Check Up - analyzing and improving all of your organization's systems as they related to preventing, detecting, and deterring fraud and abuse.

2. Monitoring - A specialized form of internal auditing devoted to periodic or ongoing evaluation of organizational compliance with anti-fraud policies and analysis of data for signs of fraudulent activity.

3.  Investigation - If fraud or abuse is suspected or alleged, our team of specialists can perform all of the investigative services necessary to maximize your recovery of lost resources and litigate against the perpetrators.

See below for more details on each of these specialized services.

Fraud Check Up

Our Fraud Protection Improvement services involve three important and inter-related elements:

1. A detailed analysis of all anti-fraud practices, systems, and policies, resulting in recommendations for and/or development of, improved policies and other defenses against fraud

2. Training of board members, senior management, department heads and supervisors, and other personnel in anti-fraud skills appropriate for each person's position

3. Assistance in implementation of revised anti-fraud practices, systems, and polices, including documentation of enhancements to all policies and other implementation assistance

Fraud protection is NOT exclusively an element of financial controls. It involves many other important functions, such as:

•  Human resources

•  Information technology

•  Physical security

•  Insurance

•  Board oversight

Keep in mind –- an audit conducted by your external Accounting firm provides very limited assurance regarding detection of fraud and NO assurance regarding the organization's protection against future frauds. The study of internal controls done as part of an audit is limited to gaining a limited understanding of a handful of internal controls in order to be able to plan the audit. Many audits involve no testing of whether internal controls are operating as planned, and those audits that do include testing of internal controls typically involve very limited quantities of transactions.

The bottom line is simple - auditing and protecting against fraud are two very different functions.

Our Fraud Protection Improvement service will culminate in a series of recommendations for improvements to all of your organization's systems involved in defending against fraud, along with appropriate training and implementation guidance.

Monitoring

Managing the risk of workplace fraud and abuse is an ongoing process - not a single step that can periodically be performed and updated. We offer a fraud risk-based monitoring service that will focus on compliance with all fraud-related policies, as well as ongoing re-assessments of your organization's self-defense systems.

A 2010 report on fraud issued by the Association of Certified fraud Examiners found that the average fraud scheme lasted 18 months before being detected. Our experience with nonprofit organizations indicates that many frauds in the nonprofit sector last even longer before they are detected. If that time period can be reduced, the total amount lost to fraud is reduced and the chances for recovery of any funds lost to fraud improves dramatically. The keys to reducing this time period are improving your defenses against fraud and improving your monitoring activities to detect fraud.

That's where we can help. Unlike traditional internal auditing, which is broader in focus, our monitoring services focus exclusively on occupational fraud and abuse. Monitoring services are typically provided on a periodic basis throughout the year - most commonly quarterly.

Investigation

Even in the most secure environment, attempts at embezzlement or other fraud may occur. As expert fraud investigators, we can handle all aspects of the investigation into suspected acts of fraud and abuse in a manner that maximizes your likelihood of successful litigation and or recovery of lost resources. In addition to assessing the total amount lost to fraud, we can build the case for your recovery of lost funds.

Call Finlay & Associates today at (905) 870-1832 for further details about how we can help improve your organization's defenses against fraud and abuse.