Payroll outsourcing can be a tricky thing to feel like you’r able to totally manage. However, when you compare it with the hassle of tracking down and managing payroll fraud, it can be both a time and money saver. Knowing about how and why it happens as well as what you can do about it can help you and your payroll service provider identify it quickly.
What ways do people commit payroll fraud?
Payroll fraud, according to payroll service, is the most common type of fraud committed by employees. But in what ways do employees commit payroll fraud? If you use a paper system, it is easy for employees to submit however many hours they work, with no way to really check and verify that they were actually working during them.
Another common fraud committed by the payroll officer is that they create “ghost” employees or continue to pay terminated employees and collect the money themselves. Payroll services have also reported payroll officer’s taking out fake loans and keeping the money. Unfortunately, criminals can be incredibly smart with their fraud and, unless you know what you’re looking for, it can be difficult to track them down (especially if you have a larger business).
How can I avoid payroll fraud?
One of the best ways to avoid payroll fraud is to hire a payroll service. If hiring one is out of your reach financially, there are a few other ways to try to avoid payroll fraud as much as you can. Make sure you hire trustworthy people and maintain direct communication with them.
If anything seems out of the ordinary, trust your gut and look into it. If you’re concerned that your payroll outsourcing service may be skimming, check around to see if anyone else has had issues. It can be as simple as just going down there and looking for yourself or asking for reports for all of your financial dealings. Click here to read about 6 Decision Factors When Outsourcing Payroll.
How a payroll service can help?
As you can see, payroll fraud is rampant and can be difficult to catch. This is where a reputable payroll service can come in handy. If you choose to use a payroll outsourcing company, they are distanced from the situation in a personal way and can see issues as soon as they start.
Hiring a reputable and trustworthy payroll service to keep tabs on your payroll, especially if you have more than just handful of employees, is almost a guarantee that you’ll be able to catch payroll fraud before it becomes a problem. Make sure that they carry liability insurance as well. If anything happens, both you and your payroll service are covered. This gives you another level of protection.
When dealing with payroll fraud, it’s good to know what your actual risks are, what to look for and how to avoid it, if possible. Make sure that you research your payroll outsourcing provider to verify that they’ll be able to get the job done and are themselves trustworthy. Visit https://www.adp.com/who-we-serve/by-industry/government-education.aspx to read about Payroll and HR solutions for government and education