Every business is susceptible to fraud, and this is a sad truth. However, a dental practice can be even more likely to be defrauded by employees in one way or another. Usually, successful dentists are always busy providing solutions to their patients’ oral problems. Thus, it’s a regular practice among dentist to assign other duties in their practice, such as managing cash flow, expenses, and other financial accounting processes to their employees. 

Although this division of responsibilities is excellent, it also leaves room for the possibility of employee fraud. Even when you’re using accounting software to keep the financial aspect of your business balanced, your employees’ simple manipulation of figures is all it takes to commit fraud. 

Frauds are not readily exposed and can go on for a long time before you find out. Except you have one of the professional dental accountants Kansas City monitoring your accounts, fraudulent employees can entirely run down your practice, right under your nose. So, what are the popular ways dental practices get defrauded?

Common Ways Internal Fraud Is Committed

Making Changes to Payment System

This method of stealing is the most popular way employees commit fraud in dental practices. By making little tweaks to cash flow statements or adding fictitious payment records, an employee can steal money from your business. Most common of those tweaks include writing off a patient’s balance on the statement as credit and taking the actual payment and padding prices of purchased items.

Forging Expenses

Forging expenses involves using a company credit card to purchase personal items and listing them as business expenses. This type of fraud committed mostly by employees in charge of balancing books or balancing expense statements can be very damaging. 

There are several other ways employees can defraud your dental practice. However, there are some excellent ways to protect your practice against internal fraud.

Ways to Prevent Fraud in Your Dental Practice

Having a robust financial management system and accounting process can be very helpful in preventing employee fraud. Here are the best ways to prevent fraud in your business.

Full Background Check on Employees and Lifestyle

First, before engaging any employee, make sure you do a full background check on your preferred candidate. Learning more about your employees can give you an insight into their behaviors and how trustworthy they can be. Also, try to confirm all employees’ conduct from their previous employers.

It doesn’t stop there. Always keep a watchful eye on your employees even after contracting them. An employee living way above their salary could be an indication of potential foul play. 

Account Statement Monitoring

Always check on your business cash flow records regularly. Ask for impromptu payroll reports, expenses reports, and the likes. This check will help you spot any discrepancies earlier. Also, use modern accounting software to get instant notifications on payments made, appointments canceled, and other information.

Regular Accountant Consultations

A sure-fire way of preventing internal fraud is by working professional advisors like dental accountants in Kansas City. These experts can help create excellent accounting processes and accurate analysis of your financial state. 

So if you want to prevent fraud in your practice, contact one of the professional dental accountants in Kansas City today.