Monday, October 19, 2009

AP Fraud Follow Up

n a prior blog I made a few comments about the growing problem of fraud. I took part in a webinar sponsored by SAP through IAPP a couple of weeks back and I learned a lot from my co presenters. The focus was on AP Fraud and how SAP Invoice Management by Open Text helps eliminate fraud before it happens. I encourage you to check out the webinar on IAPP and download the associated white paper.

One interesting question during the Q&A session was “has the control mandated by SOX reduced the occurrence of fraud”. The answer was … no! A case can be made that economic pressures may be driving individuals to seek ways to cope with personal financial problems. My observation is that many companies have focused on the control of the individual transaction as opposed the process. SOX section 404 talks about “process control” and not transactional control. I feel it is essential to remove as many non valuing adding human touch points as possible not only to streamline the process but to also remove temptation. For those touch points that remain, utilizing a rule based solution such as SAP Invoice Management by Open Text to involve the right person at the right time with the right information provides the opportunity to tighten controls and ensure compliance.

Another importance aspect of the overall process control is to immediately secure the original invoice source document and access the image during controlled processing. It is not only costly to route around the original or copies of the invoice, it also opens the door for manipulation of the document. Paper invoices should be digitized immediately upon controlled receipt. Immediate scanning secures the source document while reducing the cost to copy and distribute the invoice.

See SAP EcoHub for More on AP Optimization