Charity finance: Ten points about preventing charity fraud
Here are some top tips on fraud prevention from finance expert Kate Sayer.
1. There is a lot of fraud in charities so don’t imagine your charity is immune – it isn’t. You can reduce the risk of fraud, but you cannot eliminate it.
2. Most fraud is not very sophisticated – it is often simple, and can be prevented with basic controls.
3. The thing about controls is that you have to implement them! For example, getting blank cheques signed is bypassing the control – you are asking for fraud.
4.A common fraud in charities is internal and perpetrated by finance staff – false purchase invoices slipped into the system and paid as part of the batch.
5. Note that this fraud relies on a lack of attention by the manager authorising the purchase invoice for payment. This is a good example of a control (authorising) being ineffective because it is not implemented as it was designed. If implemented properly, this should be a strong control.
6. Don’t publish details of your normal bank current account on your website – if you want donors to pay funds direct into your account, use a different account such as a deposit account as that can only receive funds, not be used to pay expenditure.
7. Don’t publish reports or accounts with scanned signatures – this can make forgery easy
8. Do check if you receive notice from a supplier that their bank details have changed – there is a well-known scam used to divert funds to the thief’s bank account. Just phone them to check that the change is genuine.
9. Establish the principle that it is OK to report any suspicious activity. Staff and volunteers need to feel confident that this will be handled appropriately and that they are doing the right thing. It requires a considerable effort by individuals to overcome the sense that they are telling tales.
10. The most important control your organisation can introduce is a strong culture that fraud is not acceptable. A strong sense of values and commitment to the cause will create the right culture. It is also important thought that the leadership of the charity sets the right tone – trustees and senior staff must follow the rules when it comes to claiming expenses and getting purchases authorised. If the leaders of the charity go round the system, why shouldn’t others too?