There is certainly no denying the fact that businesses fear embezzlement, fraud, and theft. According to a study, embezzlement consumes significant revenue and annual profits. It restricts companies from creating a high-level impact in the market, further preventing them from expanding their business operations. Statistics reveal that trusted employees steal more from businesses than other individuals or stakeholders in the company. 
Worldwide, top executives and business owners have devised methods to protect their businesses from fraud. Still, no one has yet developed a magic formula to prevent the unfortunate reality completely. Employee theft and fraud are imminent. Employees’ opportunistic behavior often leads them to commit financial crimes, causing companies to deal with financial stress and trauma. A staggering 87% of embezzlement cases come from trusted partners and employees, which is worth contemplating.
Small Businesses Are More Vulnerable to Fraud
The media is filled with thousands of stories of serious fraud. This number of cases indicates that the life of business owners, especially entrepreneurs, is never easy. They must regularly devise different ways to protect themselves against embezzlement. Inexperienced business owners often lack the wisdom to distinguish between their employees, especially those stealing. Those with a habit of stealing are often smart, confident, and less concerned about losing their jobs, as they already know the repercussions.
Those who steal without the fear of getting caught can ruin a business entirely. Small companies may be more vulnerable to fraud, but that does not mean nothing can be done to prevent embezzlement. Being a business owner, it is your duty and responsibility to maintain complete control over your finances and other essential business matters. Developing a framework and streamlining operations requires you to know every fine detail. Before making crucial business decisions, you must know everything from bookkeeping accounts and bank statements to inventory and clients. On top of all of this, unfortunately, you must also be aware of the possibility of fraudulent activities in your business.
Protecting your business against embezzlement may be challenging, but it is not impossible. Below, we have outlined how you can maintain complete control over your business and prevent cash, goods, and sensitive information from becoming the following case of embezzlement.
Know Your Employees and Notice Changes in Their Commitment
Sadly, your employees are a potential threat to your business because you never know who will steal from you. It could be a new employee or a trusted veteran just coming into the company. However, with minimal effort, you can prevent a lot of anguish. To protect your business against embezzlement, you must know your employees well. Things such as sudden changes in habit and behavior, a lifestyle above salary levels, overnight shifts, strong objections to new accounting regulations, discrepancies in financial records, drugs, gambling, etc., may be warning signs of embezzlement. 
Keep a Check and Balance System in Place
It is hard to manage everything manually. Creating a custom solution tailored to your business needs is more beneficial to record, track, and analyze things wisely for better decision-making. In layman’s terms, what is going in and out of your business must be recorded chronologically to have a clear snapshot of finances and other essential business matters. Keeping your personal and business accounts separate allows you to track personal and business expenses independently. It will give you an accurate picture of your business, further preventing embezzlement.
Create a System to Report Theft or Fraud
A reporting system must be very carefully incorporated into a business, as it should not signal to employees as a sign that you do not trust them. Losing the trust of your employees is hard to remedy. Therefore, you must keep all of the complaints filed by your employees confidential and secure from their co-workers. This way, employees feel more encouraged and safer in reporting fraudulent activities that they think might be happening. This reporting will help you protect your business against embezzlement.
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