Experts Point to Controls in SAP(R) Invoice Management by Open Text as Way to
Prevent AP Fraud
Automation Lowers Invoice Processing Costs While Adding New Tools to Help Companies More Easily Prevent and Detect Fraudulent Activities
WATERLOO, ON,
PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that 61 percent of corporate fraud is perpetrated by companies' own employees in transactions that run the gamut from invoicing scams to setting up and paying so-called shell companies that exist only on paper. About
"The trend is that internal fraud has increased because many controls have been ineffective," said
What companies are finding is that better processes in accounts payable departments can reduce the likelihood of dishonest employees taking advantage of system weaknesses to their personal, but illegal gains. The starting point, Goldmann and others say, is the invoice. Often it's a paper one that is copied and resent multiple times throughout the submission-to-payment cycle. There are simply too many people touching such invoices - too many opportunities to tamper with amounts owed, addresses, purchase orders, even company names.
"The key is to cut down on 'touch points' by automating," said
An area where automation can help prevent fraud is by providing a detailed record of every transaction that can then be fed into data analytics programs, according to
Optimize and Automate
Efforts such as these alone don't resolve the scope of AP fraud - the gaps in processes that leave the door open to dishonest maneuvers. Large corporations, often with far-flung AP operations that need a complete AP optimization and automation solution, can take advantage of business process integration with SAP Invoice Management. End-to-end invoice management is handled efficiently and securely in the following ways:
- Invoice data can be captured using optical character recognition (OCR) and document analysis that cuts out the human touches. Data goes straight through without any human intervention or possibility of illegal tinkering. The invoices can be entered into the system anywhere in the world within minutes. A shared-services model is also possible that would allow standardized processes. - Once it's entered, the invoice can be judged against multiple business rules that evaluate meta data to resolve amounts, payments due, vendor information, and who has the right to resolve discrepancies, among others. - Questionable invoices are flagged if they don't meet the business rules and are then automatically routed to the proper person for examination.
"Corporations running SAP that are striving to meet compliance requirements will find that strengthening their business processes by adding SAP Invoice Management offers the added benefit of preventing some of the most costly types of internal fraud," said Open Text's Walker.
A fully optimized automation program, such as SAP Invoice Management, helps organizations curtail AP fraud occurrences, while providing them significant savings in efficiencies and meeting compliance requirements. As announced in
For more in-depth information, a white paper titled "Avoid Overlooking the Growing Fraud Threat When Planning AP Automation" and written by Goldmann in cooperation with Walker, is available at www.TheIAPP.org in the IAPP Store.
Further, Goldman, Moulton and Walker discuss AP fraud and automation in a podcast available for download from Open Text at http://www.opentext.com/2/global/news-home/news-podcasts.htm and from SAP at http://ecohub.sdn.sap.com/irj/ecohub/solutions/SAPVIM.
About Open Text
Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organizations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 50 million users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts(TM) to help organizations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.
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For further information: Richard Maganini, Open Text Corporation, (847) 961-0662, [email protected]; Stephanie Fazio, Open Text Corporation, (519) 888-7111, x2429, [email protected]
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