Employee fraud shouldn’t come as a surprise
By the Office of the Washington State Auditor
Employee fraud is often shocking to those charged with oversight of a government. It shouldn’t be.
As an elected official or member of an appointed board, you have a duty to understand your government’s operations and play a key role when it comes to fighting fraud. Trusting your employees is important, but you should also verify they are doing their work properly because trust alone isn’t a sufficient control for preventing loss.
Following the best practices in these two guides from the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO) shows employees that you are committed to preventing, detecting, and responding to fraud.
Use these SAO guides to strengthen fraud prevention
SAO offers two practical guides to help elected officials and appointed boards reduce the risk of employee fraud.
Trust, but verify guide (PDF)
This resource can help elected officials and appointed boards understand their role in fighting employee fraud. It includes tips for implementing policies and best practices that can help prevent, detect, and respond to fraud in local government.
Follow the Money guide (PDF)
A simple scan of banking transactions can be the difference between deterring loss and identifying it early, or allowing it to go undetected for a long period of time. This guide includes the basics of banking and bank statements, including warnings from case studies SAO investigated; what to do if you spot a red flag; and a 30-minute bank statement review checklist.
Learn more and get help
SAO offers many resources and best practices available online at no cost. Spend a few minutes in SAO’s Resource Library to help you learn additional ways to improve your government’s internal controls and reduce the opportunity for fraud.
We also have financial management specialists at SAO’s Center for Government Innovation available to talk with you about best practices, resources or internal controls. For assistance, reach out to us at Center@sao.wa.gov.
