During our work we have come across situations where business owners place their trust in one person to do many things for them as they go about their business. As a result they neglect to put in the most basic controls, like division of duties, and things can quite easily spiral out of control, and in some cases do so for many years.
Many business owners are under the false impression that the responsibility of the auditors is to look for fraud and misappropriation of assets during the performance of their audit. As a result, a clean audit indicates to them that everything is ok. (See the article on the Auditors Role)
This could not be further from the truth. Your auditor may uncover some skulduggery during their audit, but their stated responsibility is to “express an opinion on the summary consolidated financial statements based on their procedures, which are conducted in accordance with International Standard on Auditing”.
They expressly define in their report that directors are responsible for the preparation of financial statements, and the implementation off “such internal controls as the directors determine necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated and separate annual financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error”.
During our processes and procedures, we are always aware of the possibility of the risk of fraud. Through experience we have learned how to maintain peripheral vision and an air of professional skepticism.
Fraud and misappropriation are the willing bedfellows of chaos. Our process brings order out of chaos, simplicity out of complexity, and creates a calmer work environment with accurate and timeous reliable financial information.
We offer the services of experienced personnel to investigate various areas of white collar crime, tender fraud, procurement disputes, corruption, theft, money laundering and other issues where an independent assessment is required.
Our Forensic Services include:
- Fraud risk assessments
- Internal control reviews
- Fraud related policies
- Forensic investigations
- Forensic due diligence
Please contact us if you have an issue that you suspect may require and independent assessment.