Stage 1 would be to perform a historic cost recovery audit of the last 5 years payments to third party suppliers. This is 100% risk free and on a contingency fee basis. If we don’t find and recover any over-payments there is no fee. If we recover significant over-payments, it indicates that the control mechanisms within Accounts Payables are not operating effectively and could be exploited.

Stage 2, given the significant recoveries made in Stage 1, funds exist to pay for a more exhaustive data mining review to identify further exposures and the warning signs of active fraud. In the current economic climate, the level of reported fraud has increased by 100% since last year, and the reality is that most organisations discover fraud by accident.

This strategy and methodology is self-funding and requires no budget.