6 ways to increase invoice fraud prevention

Invoice fraud prevention starts with supplier risk analysis

In today’s digital world, organisations are increasingly targeted by ever more tech-savvy scam artists and cybercriminals. According to the UK Finance 2024 fraud report, invoice fraud and mandate fraud accounted for £50.3 million being stolen. That’s not just affecting your bottom line – it’s your reputation at stake.

FISCAL’s customers value the protection and peace of mind that comes from having the strongest available invoice fraud prevention strategy in place. We are continuously scouring their suppliers and invoices for any indicators of fraud. We’ll look at everything from invoices paid or entered at unusual times, to Benford’s analysis.

6 Ways to increase invoice fraud prevention

Reduce your risk and create peace of mind

The strongest invoice fraud prevention comes from continuously checking your transactions and for indicators of fraud. These include discrepancies in your invoices such as rounded numbers despite being exclusive of VAT, a spike in the invoice value, the invoice being submitted at times that don’t match the suppliers usual pattern, and so on. We recommend using an automated solution to check transactions forensically for issues and exceptions.

Clean your supplier file

To reduce invoice fraud, ensure a rigorous vendor risk management strategy with continuous monitoring of your suppliers and a clean supplier file. Find and remove duplicate supplier records, as well as those that have submitted no or few invoices in the last 18 months.

Check new suppliers and updates

Check all supplier onboarding controls have been completed before any invoices are approved and double-check all changes to supplier payment details to ensure invoices are paid correctly. It is always best to question a change and have it confirmed, especially if there is pressure for it to be completed quickly.

Monitor for segregation of duties breaches

It is essential to have a clear audit trail to prevent internal invoice fraud. Search for where the same user has been active at multiple points in the P2P cycle, update and recirculate control documents. 

Search for irregular invoice patterns

Check for volumes and values of invoices that are outside of each supplier’s normal range and a high number of invoices from one-time vendors.

Identify high-risk transactions

Look for patterns in any of the fraud risk indicators, such as round amounts, invoice number irregularities, and unusual credit note activity.

FISCAL – helping you prevent invoice fraud in accounts payable

FISCAL Technologies will give you invoice fraud prevention peace of mind, knowing that your operations are running smoothly and are not subject to malicious, fraudulent acts.

Want to find out more about how you can reduce procurement risk factors with FISCAL?