{"id":1901,"date":"2020-01-29T20:03:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T20:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/?p=1901"},"modified":"2020-01-29T20:04:01","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T20:04:01","slug":"stop-writing-checks-check-fraud-is-on-the-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/stop-writing-checks-check-fraud-is-on-the-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Writing Checks. Check Fraud is on the Rise!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this day of online banking, online payment options, apps\nthat allow you to manage your accounts payable, vendor payments, etc., there is\nreally no reason to write checks anymore. \nThe ease with which we can process payments for business expenses is\nawesome in and of itself, but there is an added benefit to choosing apps and\nautomation for making payments:  Check\nFraud!  Bad people are always willing to\nspend a ton of time and effort to figure out ways to steal.  Checks can be replicated, the ability to\nduplicate the micro coding on the bottom of checks can be bought.  The only way to protect yourself is to reduce\nor get rid of altogether using check stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While your bank will reimburse you for fraudulent checks, assuming you can prove the fraud….<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The issue is what it takes to fix:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The time, effort and frustration of working with your bank to correct<\/li>
  2. The cost to all of us for letting thieves, scammers, crappy people get away with it.\u00a0 We all pay for the fraud one way or another.<\/li>
  3. Are you certain you have accounting procedures in place that will even find the fraudulent check?\u00a0 An alarming number of businesses do not reconcile their banks regularly and timely enough to find the theft.\u00a0 Your bank is only willing to work with you within a specified number of days after the fraudulent check was cashed.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Solution: Automate your Payment Process<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Good internal control requires that you keep check stock\nsecured so that only those people trusted with using your check stock have\naccess to it.  But what if you got rid of\nyour check stock all together?  It would\nsolve several problems and avoid risk at the same time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • You would not need to worry as much about\nemployees stealing from you because they had access to check stock.<\/li>
    • You would not need to worry about checks getting\nstolen from your vendor\u2019s mail and duplicated for fraudulent purposes.  <\/li>
    • You might be able to control\/trust your own\nemployees, but you have no control over the employees your vendors have, and\nthey get access to your check stock every time you pay them using a check.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Additionally, developing a process for paying bills, standardizing\nand automating that process will save you time and effort on the accounting end\nof your business.  So, it is a\nwin\/win:  get a better process, save time\nand effort and pay your vendors with better security and ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you have a need to continue to use check stock, consider\nadding these procedures to help your bank and your employees notice something\nodd about a check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If you still need to use Check Stock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      1. Watch for checks that are outside the numbering series you are using.<\/li>
      2. Require 2 signatures for checks over a certain amount and talk to your bank about how to enforce that on their end.\u00a0 Include a note about this on your check stock right above the signature field so anyone looking at the check will see that 2 signatures are required for checks over your limit.\u00a0 \u201cTwo signatures required for checks over $1,000\u201d or something like that.<\/li>
      3. Always use the Memo field. Blank Memo fields in addition to out of sequence checks can alert your bank and you that the check might not be good<\/li>
      4. Make if hard for someone to add zeros to your checks, making a $200 check look like $2,000.<\/li>
      5. Reconcile your bank statement every month!\u00a0 In some cases, you only have 45 days to catch a bad check that the bank will reimburse you for.<\/li>
      6. Consider having one person with access to check stock, but someone else is in charge of reconciling the bank statement.\u00a0 That limits the ability for one employee to be able to write checks and also reconcile the bank statement thus hiding their theft.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Good internal control is necessary for businesses of all\nsizes and no matter how small you are, procedures can be put in place to limit\ntheft internally.  Automation and using\nthird party apps to approve and process accounts payment payments will limit\nyour exposure to risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Stop Writing Checks. Check fraud is on the rise. Here are ways to protect your business against theft and fraud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,67,4,10,115],"tags":[171,175,172,173,174],"yoast_head":"\nStop Writing Checks. Check Fraud is on the Rise! - O'Connor CPA Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oconnorcpafirm.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/stop-writing-checks-check-fraud-is-on-the-rise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop Writing Checks. Check Fraud is on the Rise! - O'Connor CPA Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stop Writing Checks. 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