Preventing Fraud at Not-for-Profits

Fraud prevention should be an integral component of any organisation’s risk management policy. Unfortunately, many organisations only respond once a fraud has occurred, as opposed to taking a proactive approach towards preventing fraud.

Recent surveys undertaken by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), in collaboration with Social Business Consulting showed that 14% of New Zealand respondents experienced suspected or proven fraud in their domestic operations in the past two years, with the median loss for New Zealand charities being NZ$5,000.

To help your organisation take the first steps to preventing fraud, BDO has developed a Fraud Prevention Toolkit. The toolkit can offer guidance on how you can adapt fraud prevention policies and procedures for your own organisation. 

As an additional resource, CA ANZ, in collaboration with Social Business Consulting, have created a guide to assist charities in preventing fraud, called Charity Fraud: Tools for Prevention. You can read more about the guide here.

If you require assistance in setting up fraud prevention policies and procedures, please contact BDO’s Not-For-Profit team.

If you require assistance in investigating potential fraud and corruption, BDO’s Forensic Services team is available to assist.

For more on the above, please contact your local BDO representative.

_{This publication has been carefully prepared, but is general commentary only. This publication is not legal or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. The information in this publication is subject to change at any time and therefore we give no assurance or warranty that the information is current when read. The publication cannot be relied upon to cover any specific situation and you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon the information contained therein without obtaining specific professional advice. Please contact the BDO member firms in New Zealand to discuss these matters in the context of your particular circumstances.
BDO New Zealand and each BDO member firm in New Zealand, their partners and/or directors, employees and agents do not give any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of information contained in this article nor do they accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone in reliance on the information in this publication or for any decision based on it, except in so far as any liability under statute cannot be excluded. Read full Disclaimer.}