Are you secured against invoice fraud?

Avoid fake invoices being approved

Invest in a solution with an approval flow

Share your documents with an approval team

Summertime is here, and for a lot of people, that means it's time for a well-deserved holiday. However, many companies find that in summertime the number of fake invoices rises.

If you use a system with an approval flow and option for shared approval, such as Continia Document Capture, you can ensure sound internal approval procedures.

Continia Document Capture can also be set up so that documents can be shared with a group, such as a department or specific entrusted employees.

The Accounts Payable department is a prime target for invoice fraud. Criminals looking to exploit your business take advantage of AP departments with lower staff levels during the holiday period. 

Fake invoices are sent to finance managers for goods or services that have never been ordered. Fraudsters exploit the low staff levels in finance departments to slip fake invoices through for immediate payment.

The amount of fake invoices is usually smaller as the approval procedure for small invoices may be less stringent. These invoices can be difficult to stop as they look like normal invoices.

The advantage of a good approval flow is that invoices are always accessible to the relevant people at the company.

Especially during holiday periods, when staff levels are lower, you can ensure that invoices are approved by your colleagues by activating the Out of Office approval sharing option.

With sharing activated, your colleagues can keep track of invoices that are approved and posted. This ensures transparency throughout the entire approval process.

The invoices are sent to both you and your holiday replacement, which you designated as a substitute for your tasks while you are away on holiday.

This may be a particularly good idea during holiday periods so that invoices are checked by several different people.

One way in which fraud is committed is by submitting invoices that are almost identical to invoices received from a company's existing suppliers.

By comparing the creditor's bank account number in the creditor directory with the information on the invoice, Continia Document Capture can quickly warn you of potential danger.

This will help improve security significantly.