Our Services

Although there is no guarantee that specific procedures will uncover fraud, the presence of an outside “watchdog” can be a strong deterrent to fraud.

Proactive Fraud Prevention and Deterrence Services:

Fraud Risk Checkup
The Fraud Risk Checkup consists of twelve key questions that will establish a baseline in you organization’s fraud prevention processes, as indicated by numerical scores in key areas. It takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, and is far less detailed than the Fraud Risk Assessment.

Fraud Risk Assessment
If an entity does not proactively identify and manage fraud risk, fraud could put the entity out of business. The purpose of the Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA) is to identify major gaps (Fraud Risk Factors) in your organization’s fraud prevention processes and recommend the necessary anti-fraud controls to deter and detect fraud in your organization. We issue a customized written report on this assessment which outlines deficiencies and makes recommendations for improvement. In addition, we will develop, document and implement effective fraud prevention strategies (in conjunction with client personnel) that will mitigate the risk of fraud.

Policies and Procedures Review
A thorough review of existing policies and procedures can uncover areas that can leave your business ripe for fraud. We review all of your policies and procedures as they relate to employee misconduct and unethical behavior to determine if and how they could be circumvented. We issue a customized written report on this review which outlines deficiencies and makes recommendations for improvement.

Vendor and Business Partnership Review
We conduct a thorough review of all vendor and business partnerships to uncover any potential conflicts of interest, as well as any unauthorized modifications to contracts and agreements. We issue a customized report which outlines deficiencies and makes recommendations for improvement.

Review of Accounting and Bookkeeping Journals and Transactions
We conduct a thorough review of all accounting and bookkeeping journals as well as any transactions that occur out of the ordinary course of business. We issue a customized report on our findings.

Test and Monitor Effectiveness of Fraud Prevention Controls
We test and monitor the effectiveness of fraud prevention controls on intervals which are determined by the clients needs. We issue a customized report which outlines deficiencies and makes recommendations for improvement.

Cash reviews and reconciliation's
Since 9 in 10 occupational frauds involve the company’s cash, we can regularly review receipts and disbursements for anomalies that can be indicators of fraud. We issue a customized report which outlines deficiencies and makes recommendations for improvement. .

Proactive Fraud Specific Investigations
A Proactive Fraud Specific Investigation is conducted when there is high risk for fraud, but clear evidence of fraud is unknown. There may or may not be indications of fraud and the objective is to determine whether or not evidence of fraud exists.

Reactive Fraud Specific Investigations
A Reactive Fraud Specific Investigation is conducted when there is high risk for fraud and there are clear symptoms or indications that fraud is occurring. The Certified Fraud Examiner searches for and compiles the evidence necessary to ascertain the existence of fraud.

FIS Fraud/Ethics-Line
Confidential and Anonymous Employee Hotline from Fraud Investigative Services, LLC
Recent corporate governance legislation like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and changes to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have inspired many organizations to implement an anonymous hotline as a risk-free way to report unethical or illegal activity. In its 2008 Report to the Nation, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that tips are the number one method for reporting fraud and that organizations with a hotline reduced their incidence of fraud by up to 60%.
Fostering a culture of integrity and compliance and protecting your reputation requires offering your employees, partners, customers, suppliers, shareholders and other stakeholders a way to report conduct that may be in violation with your stated code of conduct.

Employees who might feel uncomfortable coming forward via your internal reporting processes may feel more comfortable reporting issues via a third party hotline. An anonymous reporting mechanism also helps you comply with the updated Federal Sentencing Guidelines and is considered a “best practice” in internal control. With a fraud hotline, your employees can report questionable activities any time of day or night.

The FIS Fraud/Ethics-Line solution has been designed to enable your employees and other stakeholders to easily and confidentially report any issue or instance of misconduct. While some organizations perceive whistleblower hotlines to simply address incidents of major financial malfeasance, the flexibility of FIS Fraud/Ethics-Line enables you to capture any risk to your organization.

Forensic Accounting
As Forensic Accountants, we utilize accounting, auditing and investigative skills when conducting an investigation. Equally critical is our ability to respond immediately and to communicate financial information clearly and concisely in a courtroom setting. Forensic Accountants are trained to look beyond the numbers and deal with the business reality of the situation.

Interviewing Witnesses and Suspects
During the course of a Fraud Investigation, it is common practice to interview witnesses who may provide critical information or to conduct admission seeking interviews of suspects who may be culpable of the fraud under examination. These interviews are handled confidentially and the objective is to draw out the facts and secure a confession.

Anti-Fraud and Fraud Awareness Education
Educating employees and managers about the potential for fraud in an organization along with communication of management policy on fraudulent activity are paramount in creating a climate of ethical behavior in an organization. We conduct on-site training to educate managers and employees on how to identify and prevent fraud from victimizing their organization.

Background Investigations
We assist our clients with background investigations to provide further insight about characteristics that are typical to a fraud perpetrator.

Conventional Auditing vs Fraud Examination
Issue	Auditing	Fraud Exam
Timing	*Recurring* Audits are conducted on a regular recurring basis	Non-recurring Fraud Exams are conducted only with sufficient predication
Scope	General The scope of the audit is an examination of financial data	Specific The fraud specific exam is conducted to resolve specific allegations
Objective	Opinion An audit is generally conducted for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the financial statements or related information	Affix blame The fraud exam’s goal is to determine whether or not fraud has occurred or is occurring and to determine who is responsible
Relationship	Non adversarial The audit process is non adversarial in nature	Adversarial Fraud exams involve efforts to affix blame and are adversarial in nature
Methodology	Audit techniques Audits are conducted by examining financial data and obtaining corroborating evidence	Fraud exam techniques Fraud examinations are conducted by: A) document examination; B) review of outside data such as public records; and C) Interviews of witnesses and suspects
Standard	Professional skepticism Auditors are required to approach audits with professional skepticism	Proof Fraud examiners approach the resolution of a fraud by attempting to establish sufficient proof to support or refute a fraud allegation

Our Services

Proactive Fraud Prevention and Deterrence Services:

Issue

Auditing

Fraud Exam