The 2008 Report to the Nation is a report issued by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that discusses who commits fraud and the most common ways that they do it. Some of the more common schemes are corruption, billing, skimming, and expense reimbursements. 

Corruption is when someone manipulates a business transaction for their personal gain. Kickbacks are a perfect example of corruption.

Billing is the category in this report that describes instances when the billing system is manipulated for personal gain. For example, submitting invoices from a fictitious vendor for payment or submitting invoices for personal expenses for payment.

Skimming is more common in companies with a lot of cash transactions. When a convenience store clerk accepts the cash payment but does not record the sale, the clerk is skimming.

Expense reimbursements refer to the practice of submitting fictitious or inflated business expenses for reimbursement.

You have probably heard of most of these schemes, however the challenge is developing controls to prevent and detect them. Need an assessment of your operational controls? Contact me.

During the recent presidential campaign, we heard over and over again that energy dependence is an issue of national security. 

I read a recent report from the American Petroleum Institute that really drove that home for me.  According to The Truth About Oil and Gasoline: An API Primer,  40 years ago about 85% of the world oil reserves were owned by investor owned companies (IOC), primarily in the U.S.  Today nearly 80% of those reserves are owned by national oil companies (NOC) and foreign governments.  To take that a step further, the largest U.S. holder of world oil reserves in the U.S. is ExxonMobil with approximately .6% (yes, that’s point 6 percent). 

The campaigning and the election is over, but energy independence should be a big concern of the new administration. How does this concentration affect your company? Tell us by posting a comment.

So what’s behind the recent (and continuing) downturn in in the price of oil and natural gas?  I found an interesting article at Time.com written by Ari J. Officer. 

As Mr. Officer writes, “The financial crisis was the spark, de-leveraging the fuel.”  As the mortgage crisis rose to a panic, the U.S. dollar that had long been in a slump of its own began to make a comeback.  With the stronger dollar, the price of oil purchased in U.S. dollars had to come down.

Further complicating things, as the financial markets tumbled and talk of a bailout began to take shape, speculators holding long positions in oil were forced to close out those positions to cover mounting losses. 

Altogether it was a perfect storm.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the eye has passed us by.

The 2008 Report to the Nation is a report issued by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that discusses who commits fraud and the most common ways that they do it. Fraudsters are generally 40 to 60 year old executives or accountants. The study showed that as incomes and education levels increased the instances of fraud decreased, but the dollar value increased. Additionally, in a majority of the fraud cases there was only one person involved in the scheme and it was their first offense.

Common indicators of fraud are employees living beyond their means or experiencing financial difficulties.

Take a look around your office, do you see anybody that fit this description? Keep your ears and eyes open and establish a whistleblower policy providing procedures of investigation and protection.

After what has felt like the longest presidential campaign in history, it’s finally time for the people to have their say.  It might be remembered as the campaign that made Joe the Plumber a rock star, but what’s next for Joe the Pumper? 

The candidates have taken opposing positions on several key energy issues.  The only thing we know for sure is that our decision will likely reshape U.S. energy policy for years to come.

Ultimately, what’s left is our choice.  So cast your vote, buckle up, and hang on for the ride.