Both missing receipts were for "meals and entertainment" for the same date and location, and the method of payment was "cash." Both employees were sales representatives and their expense reports were approved by the sales manager. I expanded my sample and, once again, found one missing receipt. That started me down a pathway of unexpected discovery. An attached review note stated the receipt was lost, and because the payment method was cash, a duplicate receipt was not obtained. One expense reimbursement report in the sample lacked a supporting receipt, yet it had been approved and paid. My initial sample selection included a cross-section of employees across the organization and stratified over the various employee and management levels. On the surface, this appears to be a solid process with preventive controls. Once approved, the expense report went to the reimbursement manager in the accounts payable department for final review, tie out of receipts to charges, follow up and payment processing. The expense report was then routed to the reporting manager for review and approval.
Employees were required to complete the online expense report, download charges from their corporate American Express card and scan the supporting receipts. This seems reasonable and is consistent with IRS requirements. The company's expense reimbursement policy required receipts for an expense item exceeding $75. Despite being a publicly-traded company with an expense reimbursement policy, corporate American Express credit cards and expense reporting software, it didn't stop this department-wide fraud from being masterminded. Several years back, while performing a routine Sarbanes-Oxley internal control test, I discovered a coordinated employee expense reimbursement scheme pervasive in a company's sales department. If you're not taking a hard look at reimbursements, many instances of fraud can go unnoticed. Large organizations with companywide expense reimbursement policies are not immune to expense fraud. While the estimated median loss tends to fluctuate between $26,000 and $33,000 per perpetrator, the duration of the expense reimbursement scheme remains at two years. The table below provides a trend snapshot over the past several years. The ACFE collects, analyzes and publishes statistics related to the estimated amount businesses lose each year, median duration of time to discovery, and characteristics of victim organizations in their biennial Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) defines an expense reimbursement scheme as "any scheme in which an employee makes a claim for reimbursement of fictitious or inflated business expenses." So, what exactly are expense reimbursement schemes, how do they occur, which type of organization is most vulnerable, and most importantly, what are the best practices organizations can adopt to reduce their risk of these fraud schemes? Stats on expense reimbursement schemes If something isn’t working quite right, please tell us about it.Įmployee expense reimbursements: Legitimate or fraudulent?īy Abigail Grenfell, CPA, president, Internal Control and Anti-Fraud Experts, LLCĮxpense reimbursement schemes fall within a subset of fraudulent disbursements underneath the "asset misappropriation" umbrella. You can also have the pics or scans emailed to you within 24 hours.We recently updated our systems. A custom receipt based on a photo or your required specifications is $39.99 - and this price includes express postage to any country throughout the world. Our most popular service is where we create replica receipts from your sample photo, custom made to your new specification. Let us know what stores you may need the fake receipts from. If you want to see some un-blurred photos the fake receipts we have made, email us, and we'll email you a clearer photo. On this page you'll see some sample photos of our fake receipts - they are deliberately a little blurred that's because if we show clear images of the fake receipts we make, the lawyers from the big companies come out in force and ask us to remove the pictures. We also generate Hotel Receipts / Folio Templates from all the Major Hotel Groups in the US/Canada and the UK. We've been making and selling fake receipts online since 2009, and have a wealth of experience in getting you the right receipt for the right situation. We have made 1000's of Fake receipts from Major Sports Stores, Electrical Stores, Pharmacies, Hardware Stores, Supermarkets, Department Stores, Jewellers, Restaurants etc from the USA, the UK, Canada and many other countries.