5 solutions to help businesses avoid invoice fraud
In an accounts payable management process, fraud and risks are always considered top concerns that threaten businesses. The consequences of invoice fraud go far beyond immediate financial losses, accompanied by reputational damage to the company and disruptions in business and production activities. If a business does not have any processes in place to prevent invoice fraud, it means that your company’s cash may be drained day by day by invoice fraudsters.
Impact of invoice fraud on businesses
According to Forbes, in 2019 a subsidiary of the Toyota Group became a victim of an invoice fraud attack, where the fraudster deceived the company into transferring a large sum of money for a transaction. The fraudster impersonated Toyota’s business partner and requested payment to a fraudulent bank account, causing the company to lose approximately 37 million dollars. Indeed, cases where businesses lose tens of millions due to mistakenly transacting with supplier impersonators are not uncommon. If you do not want to miss out on solutions to avoid being scammed like the business above, check out our information right now.
When businesses are scammed and fall victim to invoice fraud:
- Significant financial losses:
Businesses will face direct financial losses from mistaken transactions, resulting in substantial monetary losses, affecting cash flow and profit. According to UK Finance, losses from invoice and mandate fraud totaled £49.5 million in 2022, and up to 70% (£34.5 million) of the losses from invoice and mandate fraud occurred in non-personal or business accounts. In addition, businesses incur further costs for activities to enhance information security and improve security processes after incidents occur. - Loss of reputation with partners:
When businesses fall into invoice fraud cases, their reputation and customer or partner trust can be severely affected, especially for banks and manufacturing enterprises. At this time, businesses need to strictly control their internal processes and then spend time rebuilding strong relationships with each cooperating entity. - Business disruption:
Redirecting personnel to handle the consequences of fraud interrupts ongoing business operations. Additionally, fraud investigation and review consume time, affecting core activities. - Challenges in financial management:
If fraud occurs repeatedly, the company’s accounts payable control process may lead to a lack of transparency, resulting in inaccuracies in financial reports and internal distrust, causing loss of solidarity.
5 solutions to help businesses avoid invoice fraud
Implementing the solutions below can help businesses avoid the risk of fraud, payment scams, and improve financial management efficiency, increasing transparency in the company’s accounts payable control process.
Develop a strict invoice verification process
- 3 ways matching: Businesses need to implement a process of matching invoices with purchase orders (PO) and goods receipt notes before making payments. This will help prevent fake invoices sent by suppliers or invoice fraud by scammers. The three-way matching process in accounts payable is essential and will be even better if this process is automated.
- Bank account verification: Always verify payment account information directly with the supplier via official phone or email before making a payment to avoid counterfeit invoices. This method can be applied if making payments to an account for the first time – send a small amount first and then check with the company using known contact details to ensure that the payment was received and that account details are correct.
- Invoice storage: Storing paper invoices involves time-consuming search tasks and takes up office space. To optimize manual processes, businesses should build a scientific invoice storage system by automating the process with RPA (Robotic Process Automation) to easily retrieve information in cases of fraud detection.
Use Accounts Payable process automation software
- Automate payment processes: Detecting irregularities is crucial, such as duplicate payments, swapped product codes, and supplier information changes without any alerts. Using automated accounts payable management software to reduce errors and promptly detect suspicious invoice fraud is essential.
- You need an RPA process that can track authorized emails and supplier IP addresses. Build a robust platform to segregate tasks and detailed permissions to truly control this process transparently.
Thorough supplier due diligence
- Reputation checks: Only work with suppliers who have been verified and have their brand reputation checked through government organizations and global anti-fraud organizations. Regularly update government information on invoice fraud to avoid missing important announcements.
- Confirm information: Businesses need to send supplier information confirmation letters through multiple reputable verification channels before proceeding with transactions. Additionally, during business operations and transactions, businesses should prioritize establishing and maintaining reliable cloud storage of supplier data to prevent fake fraud information. Criminals can access or alter emails to make fraudulent information look authentic, so do not use contact details within emails; instead, check the company’s official website or documents in contracts.
Employee training and awareness enhancement
- Regular training: Increase training sessions for accounts payable and procurement staff on recognizing signs of fraud. Research by ACFE (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners) shows that training employees, managers, and executives on fraud risks and costs can reduce fraud losses and ensure faster fraud detection. Evidence shows that non-profit organizations with fraud awareness training detected fraud 2.5 times faster than organizations without it (specifically, trained organizations detected fraud in 9 months, while untrained ones took 24 months to detect invoice fraud).
- Build fraud control policies: Develop fraud control policies and require employees to report any abnormalities for timely handling and prosecution. This also includes conducting regular audits of the company’s invoicing process to maintain accountability.
Leverage End-to-End invoice automation through payment automation
- End-to-End Solutions: This approach fully integrates the management and operation of an entire process or system from start to finish without additional components or systems. Instead of handling individual parts or by stage, end-to-end solutions encompass all steps, from initial input collection to final output delivery. This type of solution is designed to address every aspect of a task or problem, from initial requirement analysis to implementation and continuous maintenance.
Automating invoice approvals is an effective solution that helps businesses reduce the risk of invoice fraud and fake invoices, while also minimizing errors and boosting productivity. By using iAutobot– a cloud-based AP automation platform – businesses can eliminate manual data entry, printing, or scanning. This system allows invoice approvals anytime, anywhere, ensuring timely and flexible processing. As a result, businesses save time, reduce costs, and minimize risks arising from errors, particularly controlling supplier information to eliminate fake invoices and invoice fraud. Establishing a secure and tight payment process becomes simpler when applying appropriate tools and adhering to best practices. Automation helps businesses optimize financial processes, create a transparent working environment, and focus on long-term development goals.
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