Protecting your assets is a top priority for businesses big and small. While protecting these assets from outside forces is important, another threat originates from inside your own organization. Dishonest or disgruntled employees can easily take advantage of their position to steal from your business. Whether they are skimming a little off the top or embezzling large amounts of money, loss resulting from employee theft is a very real problem for many organizations. Employee theft can be difficult to prevent and often more difficult to detect in the first place. Thankfully, with a proper cash management strategy, you can put systems and practices in place to protect yourself and significantly reduce the possibility of employee theft.
Streamline Your Cash Handling Process
The more hands your cash passes through means you risk a greater chance that a dishonest employee will take advantage. When several employees are involved in handling your money, it can be often difficult to determine who is taking advantage. A streamlined and secure cash handling process is fundamental to a sound cash management strategy. By using technology such as currency and coin recyclers, you can significantly reduce the number of people who handle your cash and therefore reduce your risk of theft. As an added bonus, streamlining also improves the overall efficiency and accuracy of this process.
Conduct Surprise Audits
Auditing is a great tool to prevent employee theft and loss by ensuring your financial records match your receipts and transaction records. Dishonest employees have been known to abuse their positions by not reporting transactions or reporting ones which did not actually occur. Conducting these audits at random intervals will prevent any potential thieves from catching on to your checks and audits.
Require Management Authorization For Special Transactions
Well trained managers with the responsibility to personally authorize certain types of transactions are a great way to improve your existing cash management strategy. A few types of transactions such as refunds, price reductions, and no sales, are especially vulnerable to fraud and abuse. You can protect yourself from this type of theft by requiring manager authorization for these types of transactions. Under an effective cash management strategy, these types of transactions can only be completed after a manager enters an authorization or swipes a keycard. In addition, it is crucial that your managers are not only responsible for these types of transactions, but also well trained in security measures and proper protocol. A careless manager can easily authorize transactions which are fraudulent by not paying close enough attention.
As a business owner, you need to use an effective cash management strategy to prevent employee theft and avoid unnecessary losses. Don't turn a blind eye. Acknowledge that your business is vulnerable to employee theft. Streamline your cash handling process, conduct surprise audits, and require management authorization for certain transactions to protect your business against employee theft.
