Launching a business involves various challenges that owners must face to jump from a small enterprise to a big one. One of these hurdles is setting up a bank account and guarding it from criminal activities like fraud.
Read below for helpful tips on protecting your small business from malicious attacks.
Secure Your Bank Accounts
When securing your business bank account, leave as few paper trails as possible. Paying bills online is ideal to prevent bank statements from lying around. However, always ensure to log out of your devices after a transaction. The good news is that many online banking systems enable users to automate their payments. So you won’t have to log in and out to pay for them.
Meanwhile, if you’re going to provide credit cards to employees, ensure that you set a spending limit. You must also activate fraud protection features like automatic alerts to notify you of unauthorized spending. Otherwise, creating a strict reimbursement policy for employee expenses is ideal.
Do a Background Check on Employees
Many cases of business fraud come from inside jobs. So aside from determining if a person is qualified, you must also identify their trustworthiness. Some may rely on the references provided. However, it’s best to go the extra mile.
There are various ways to do an employee background check. However, before doing so, ensure that every step taken is legal and that the applicant has consented to the investigation. You can also hire a third-party service provider to do such a task. That way, you avoid the risks involved in the process.
Pay attention to internal conflict, which could result in employee fraud. Issues like a lack of appreciation or poor compensation could trigger an individual to commit such a malicious act. That’s why it’s always important to treat employees respectfully and compensate them well for their hard work.
Conduct Proper Training
Proper training is critical to ensuring employees know about this type of criminal activity. Educate them on the consequences of committing fraud and how to be vigilant in detecting potential threats in the workplace. Your employees are among your first lines of defense against such fraudulent activities. However, it would only work if you keep them informed.
It would also help to set up a proper reporting system for vigilant employees. For instance, some companies utilize messaging apps or communication channels with an anonymity feature. That way, employees can report potential threats without risking their identities if the accusation turns out to be false. Of course, you must also set up guidelines and penalties to prevent them from abusing the system.
Hire Trustworthy Experts
An accountant should do more than prepare financial statements and do taxes. They must also proactively track your business spending and look for anomalies that could indicate fraud. Through their help, you prevent malicious financial activities from flying under the radar.
Meanwhile, outsourcing experts can also help you detect and prevent fraud if you don’t have an in-house accountant yet. However, when doing so, it’s best to do it months before tax season to address any issues found and avoid filing the wrong tax returns.
Moreover, hiring outside help is crucial, whether or not you have an in-house accountant. For instance, trusted tax audit specialists like Faris CPA can help go over your records and look for inconsistencies your accountant may have overlooked.
Protect Your Business Income
With fewer systems in place, small businesses are easy targets for attacks like fraud. When launching your company, prioritize setting up safeguards to protect your account. These include educating your employees, creating a thorough reporting system, and hiring the right professionals to prevent fraud attempts from happening.
