Inventory can be a major component of current assets on the balance sheet, but is that number accurate? Inventory opens the gate to employee fraud, making strong internal controls over inventory reporting critical. Other aspects of inventory that should be considered are independent third-party counts, surprise inventory counts, using an inventory management system, and utilizing automation.

It is every investigative professional’s dream to uncover a “smoking gun” during an investigation. A “smoking gun” is the one irrefutable piece of evidence, too obvious for the subject of the investigation to deny. However, the vast majority of cases do not reveal a “smoking gun”, making the investigative professional’s job simultaneously more challenging and much more exciting. During an investigation it is vital to hire a knowledgeable forensic accountant who can identify several pieces of evidence and make critical connections between those pieces, building the case despite the absence of a “smoking gun”.

As a financial statement preparer, it is vital to keep in mind that not all financial statement users are accountants and as such, may lack the skillset and knowledge to interpret the statements. Financial statement users may shy away from the volume of pages containing regulatory disclosures. While preparing financial statements, it is important to step into the users’ shoes to create meaningful statements while ensuring compliance with reporting disclosure requirements.

According to the United Nations, money laundering accounts for approximately $800 billion to $2 trillion (or 2-5% of global GDP) annually.¹ To put the impact of money laundering into perspective, Canada’s GDP was roughly $2 trillion in 2021. Thus, the potential financial impact of money laundering globally is equivalent to the GDP of Canada.

Taking your business from a Start-up to a Scale-up is an incredible milestone. As you focus on building your brand and raising capital to grow, it is vital to simultaneously focus on financial reporting. Having a proper financial reporting structure not only demonstrates success, but it also instills investor confidence in the business, and its management.

Have you ever reviewed an expense transaction in a corporation’s books and wondered, “is this expense allowed?” Or have you ever expensed a transaction and asked yourself the same question?

If you have been in this situation, as a business owner or an employee, you are probably far too familiar with this “grey area”. There are those clear transactions that are not permitted, and often times you can identify these by merely appraising the vendor to whom the payment was made. On the flip side, you have other transactions that are undeniably business-related. Although it should be logical to decide whether or not to make that payment or swipe that corporate card, the question actually becomes, “will I get away with it?”