FALSE INVOICE SCAMS
Is your company following invoice processing best practices? This is a common scam, someone in a position of trust, creates and approves invoices from a fictitious company which purport to supply goods and services to the hotel, and then pocket the money.
In order to reduce the occurrence of theft from false invoice scams, here are some basics for purchasing, receiving, and processing payments for goods and services that should be reviewed and/or implemented:
Separation of Duties - Ensure that payment documents are processed with different people involved. Best practices is to have different people:
Approve purchases
Receive ordered deliveries
Approve invoices for payment
Review and reconcile financial records
Accountability, authorization, and approval. Ensure that you authorize, review and approve invoices for payment based on signed agreements, contract terms, and purchase orders. Best practices:
Verify receipt of goods and services to against contract , purchase order and invoice.
Obtain pre-approval of consulting agreements.
Monitor that invoices are paid timely.
Reconcile ledgers for accuracy of recorded transactions.
Security of Assets. Once you receive your purchased goods, secure them in a safe location. Periodically count your inventory, and compare results with amounts shown on previous counts.
Review and reconciliation. Your reconciliation activities confirm that paying for approved purchases and that you have been billed correctly.
Using proper internal controls, you can ensure that goods and services are received, and payments are properly processed.
