Anti fraud training

After a fraudulent act is exposed, employees from the organization in question will invariably recognize transactions or aspects of such transactions that in hindsight, appeared to be suspicious. It is also accurate to suggest that upon an initial review of these transactions, warning signs or ‘red flags’ were ignored, or deemed to be irrelevant. This should come as no surprise, as most employees generally have limited, if any, formal anti-fraud training.

The purpose of anti-fraud training is four-fold: first, to establish a common understanding and awareness of which acts constitute fraud; second, to determine what motivates fraudsters to engage in such illicit activity; third, to identify the methods by which these frauds are perpetrated; and finally, to recognize the potential indicators of fraudulent transactions.

The real enemy is not the fraudster, but rather complacency

Over time, it is common to become complacent about internal corporate policies and procedures. For example, employees may be authorized to approve transactions below a specified value, such as $5,000 or $10,000. What must be considered, however, is the frequency and efficacy of the authorized signatory’s compliance within the parameters of a particular corporation’s policy. Fraudsters will often take advantage of this oversight by carrying out transactions just below their authorization limits, in order to avoid detection. However, many will inevitably push the boundaries by exceeding their threshold authorization limit, which increases the likelihood of getting caught.

Anti-fraud training is a preventative measure that helps employees mitigate this risk by operating with a skeptical mindset when reviewing and processing transactions, thereby increasing the likelihood of identifying potential fraud indicators – before the fraud is committed. With this in mind, nagel + associates offers a variety of in-class, webinar-based, and custom fraud awareness training sessions that are specifically geared towards board members, c-suite executives, management, lawyers, auditors, payroll, HR, or any other organizational group.

Auditors are expected to find fraud, yet have limited formal fraud training

One of the most daunting challenges as an internal or external auditor is detecting fraud, particularly for auditors who have never previously encountered a fraud. In fact, most accountants who perform external financial review or audit engagements possess a limited amount of formal fraud training, if any at all. It is unreasonable to expect them to catch fraudsters when questionable transactions are directly related to the company’s financials. It is not realistic to expect auditors to do this when in many situations, they lack the insight to recognize indicators of fraud.

nagel + associates offers a variety of training courses specifically developed for external and internal auditors, which can be delivered in-person, online or via video conferencing to accommodate multiple departments and/or office locations simultaneously. Our training lays the foundation required for auditors to perform their duties effectively, and provides practical, hands-on case studies that help them to identify the not-so-obvious indicators of fraud in order to ‘out’ fraudsters before they can commit illegal acts that may have a massive impact on their client’s or their organization’s bottom line.

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Lawyers and financial analysis – an ongoing battle

Lawyers are invariably required to review financial records in connection with various types of legal matters, including employee misappropriation, shareholder disputes and mergers/acquisitions, just to name a few. Similar to auditors, lawyers tend to receive limited, if any, formal accounting and/or anti-fraud training. nagel + associates works tirelessly and intimately with law firms’ professional development teams to design and deliver customized training for lawyers, equipping them with the tools and skills they require to understand financial records and analysis provided to them.

The relationship between lawyers and our forensic accountants extends to the thorough preparation of the former with customized expert witness training so that they are in the greatest possible position to examine and cross-examine a forensic accounting expert witness.

Training for Corporations, the Public Sector and NPOs

Employees frequently take directives from senior management, and their behaviour is often learned when an organization’s leadership leads by example. The oft-used adage of ‘tone at the top’ is best illustrated when an organization’s leadership expresses an interest in, and commitment to, promoting strong corporate governance and adhering to policies and procedures. Naturally, good governance will trickle down to employees, who are sure to follow suit.

nagel + associates recognizes that an organization’s struggle with balancing operational budgets can be a delicate process when considering the benefits of proactive vs. reactive engagements relating to fraud risk management. Most are content to not undertake pre-emptive actions until they are faced with a real fraud allegation. In situations such as these, opportunities are missed, and in the long run, a greater expense to the organization is incurred.

We work closely with our clients in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in developing customized training programs that focus on particular accounting cycles (e.g. purchasing or payroll), and general courses that address a broad range of fraud awareness initiatives and fraud prevention topics. Our experience has shown us – and our clients – that training is an easy and effective way to start the conversation about fraud and to keep complacency out of the equation!

Our firm has extensive experience in developing and delivering various anti-fraud training, both in-person and online. We offer single and multi-day sessions for a variety of audiences, including custom training to meet specific needs.  Click on the links below for more information:

To determine whether your organization may benefit from anti-fraud training, click all of the following that apply: