Sales are down, the UK economy is in debt and unemployment is rising. In hard times, how far would a depressed employee go? Would one of your workers commit fraud?

Research from the UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS suggests an economic slowdown and a rise in fraud certainly go hand in hand, with a 40% increase in people being falsely impersonated last year compared with 2008.

Worse for the business, half of the 2,000-plus employees surveyed by consultant Ernst & Young in 2009 thought that one or more types of unethical business behaviour was acceptable during a recession!

The implications for your business are clear: when the economy is in turmoil, the risk of employees committing fraud is likely to increase. You and your executive colleagues must take steps to protect the firm against potential exposure.

Your first priority should be implementing technology that can help combat errant behaviour. And specific software systems, such as spend analysis and document management, are key to fraud detection and prevention.

Companies looking to understand the direction of cash must understand who is being paid and when. Analytics will help you identify which employee is acting in an unusual manner.

Accidental errors – such as billing mistakes and invoice miscalculations – can be seen. And taking a strong stance on spend management will also allow you to track and trace potential weak spots that could provide a loophole for fraudsters.

Document management is also key for fraud prevention. Electronic capture of documents will mean the business will be able to preserve the integrity of its evidence and documents cannot get altered, shredded or mysteriously ‘lost’.

Invoices, orders and other financial documents can be imaged, securely stored and all interactions with the imaged documents are recorded which creates an audit trail, meaning the opportunity for an errant employee to cover their activity is significantly reduced.

The economy may well be improving but times remain hard for many, making employee fraud a real risk. Finding the right technologies for fraud detection and prevention are therefore vital, from spend analysis and document management systems through to expense management and time and attendance solutions. The time to act is now.

Fraud detection and prevention – why software is key is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

What can we do?  There is one resource that is finite.  That is Time.  Roger Allen wrote a seminal book “Winnie-the-Pooh on Management”, (this does exist!). He quotes Pooh Bear saying, ‘But you can’t manage time – time just is”.  And that is the problem.  Time can only be allocated and prioritised for tasks.  You can’t make more of it.  Yes, you can work all 8760 hours in a year, if you don’t do anything but work. However, you would expire without sleep and food, and more stuff will have magically worked its way into your ‘To Do’ list anyway.

So, where do we start in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our time utilisation?

You could make an efficient start by attending the last session at the eFin User Group at Twickenham on 10th September. We will be looking at Time Logs, some frightening statistics, job analysis, prioritising, Air Traffic Control and some personal anecdotes.  You will leave with some tips and ideas to help you gain more for less.  You will need to start with some self analysis.  We need to understand how we currently use our time to be able to change (if needs be). You will be receiving a Time Log next week to fill in before you come to the event.  We already know that some of you will not find time to do this!  As well as that, you will find some ideas in the next two blogs.  The first will look at the time wasters we all have to live with and what we can do about them. The next will consider some of the good habits we need to develop to fix this exemplary behaviour into our busy schedules.

Look forward to meeting you in September.
Phil Hawthorn

More or less? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Jon Moulton talks about the current state of private equity funding and how it needs to invest for the long term.

Jon Moulton – Alchemy Partners speaking at SuperReturn 2008 is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

The expected ‘slash and burn’ tactics were referred to throughout the day, but evidence was presented throughout to suggest this generally is a risky policy (protect and nurture the brand at all times), although one should always review and flex marketing budgets to suit current economic conditions.

The day was introduced and hosted by the marketing guru and Emeritus Professor Malcolm McDonald.  His main theme was one of customer segmentation, which is vital anyway, but especially in a downturn.

Other takeaways for me included:

• Listen to your customers (and respond to what they say!).  Nurture existing customers before chasing after new ones
• Remember, customers buy value, not products
• The best sales people are your customers
• Seek to reduce risk for your customers
• Measure customer profitability (and understand why you might sell to unprofitable ones)
• In a downturn, changes in marketing and sales strategy should be subservient to and driven by changes in business strategy, which should be driven from the top.  Reprioritise marketing spend based on this new strategy and measure effectiveness based on hard facts.

A final thought from Professor McDonald was to go on the offensive in a downturn – generally rates are cheaper and competitors may be engaged elsewhere (panicking). 

Which brings us back nicely to the theme of the COA Solutions briefing later in September – ‘How to prosper in a downturn’.

Marketing and sales in a recession – stick to the knitting! is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

About bloody time! Obvious as can be that the economy was doomed to blow up with too much government spending and wild spending by ever more overborrowed consumers. Both these have gone into reverse and the economy with it; worse the government deficit is still not being attacked. It may be David Cameron who has to behave like Maggie to balance the books by still further hurting the economy.

We’ve a pretty long depressing period in the UK to come!

To hear more from Jon Moulton, visit http://www.moulton-speaks.com/

Jon Moulton Discusses Recession is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment