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Tricks of the Trade: Use Numbers to Unscramble the Costly Web of Fraud

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Expert Witness, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence, Litigation Support, Marital Dissolution.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, business valuation, and marital dissolution in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

 This blog is the third in a series of four posts that will examine the so-called “Tricks of the Trade” that forensic accountants use when conducting fraud investigations.

In conducting investigations, a forensic accountant often will analyze times and dates to determine if fraud or minority shareholder oppression may be present.

Date and time analysis can be used for a variety of purposes, explained David Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant and principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

For example, Anderson said many fraudsters with access to business accounting systems enter transactions after hours or on weekends, so no one can observe them. Hence, in analyzing the date and time of transaction entries, a forensic accountant will conduct additional analysis of transactions entered after hours or on weekends to determine the propriety of those transactions, said Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant who also is a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

He added that the forensic accountant also can investigate online off-hours access to systems to determine whether unauthorized outsiders have accessed the company’s systems.

In minority shareholder oppression cases, as well as in marital dissolution cases, a forensic accountant will analyze the date and time of reimbursable travel, meal, and entertainment expenses, Anderson said.

“In one recent case, I found that over a period of three years the majority shareholder had submitted reimbursable meal expenses for more than 100 meals on Friday nights, Saturdays, Sundays, nights before a holiday, and on the holidays themselves,” said David Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience in conducting fraud investigations and establishing comprehensive fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

When deposed, Anderson said the shareholder, whose company was a retail business, claimed each of these meals – some of which were for hundreds of dollars – were for entertaining customers. However, no customers were specifically identified with any of the meals.

Furthermore, when the shareholder did provide the names of specific customers that he claimed to have entertained, all but one of the customers had purchased less than $500 from the business over the three-year period, said Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant whose firm provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

In a marital dissolution case, Anderson – a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia – said he noted frequent travel, meal, and entertainment reimbursements that occurred over weekends and holiday periods. This travel included international travel even though the business was a local business. In analyzing the supporting documents, forensic accounting expert Anderson said he found that all the travel was for vacations for the business owner and his girlfriend.

Dates of birth can also be utilized by forensic accountants to verify the validity of employee social security numbers, Anderson said. Certain tables are available that provide approximate information regarding when an individual applied for his/her social security number, explained Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant and principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

Running these tables against the birthdates of employees can identify potential mismatches, such as a 30-year-old worker whose social security number falls in the range of numbers that were issued prior to 1950, said Certified Fraud Examiner and forensic accounting expert Anderson. These mismatches, he said, can then be further investigated to determine whether the employee has furnished a valid social security number.

If you have questions about any finance or fraud issues, you should speak with a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates can be reached by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com if you require the services of a Certified Fraud Examiner or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting, and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

Tricks of the Trade: Study Names and Numbers to Ferret Out Fraudsters

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, business valuation, and marital dissolution in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

 This blog is the second in a series of four posts that will examine the so-called “Tricks of the Trade” that forensic accountants use when conducting fraud investigations.

A forensic accountant can use names, addresses and phone numbers when investigating potential minority shareholder suppression cases and when conducting a fraud investigation.

In minority shareholder suppression cases, a forensic accountant will look for employees, subcontractors, and vendors having the same last name as that of the majority shareholders, explained David Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant and principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

“We also obtain information regarding the married names of female relatives of the majority shareholders, and search for those names” said Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant who also is a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia. “In several of my cases, I have identified significant payments being made to the majority shareholder’s daughter, her husband or her children, who performed little or no work for the company, as part of an effort to divert profits from the minority shareholder.”

When he is conducting fraud investigations, forensic accounting expert Anderson says he performs the same analyses.

“In one instance, the general manager of a division was found to be making referral payments to a seemingly unrelated third party,” said David Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience in conducting fraud investigations and establishing comprehensive fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley. “However, during my investigation, this person actually was his wife who was using her maiden name to appear to be unrelated to the general manager.

Anderson, a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia, said he made this discovery by Googling the general manager. One of the items he said he came up was the wedding announcement which contained the wife’s maiden name.

One final name analysis, which Anderson said can be performed by a forensic accountant undertaking fraud deterrence in a fraud investigation, is a search for vendor companies that use abbreviations in their titles (for example, ARH Enterprises or H & B Associates). Because of ego, many fraudsters and others use their own initials or those of their spouse and themselves in the names of companies they set up, said David Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant whose firm provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. He said any companies he finds during such an investigation warrant additional analysis.

Addresses can also help identify potential fraud, forensic accounting expert Anderson noted. When an employee sets up a phony vendor, Anderson said the employee often uses his or her home address as the address for the vendor. By running matches between the employee files and the vendor files, he said he has found numerous phony vendors.

“I also run the employee’s addresses against the company’s address or that of the corresponding subsidiary, division, or group headquarters or facility address, said Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant and principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley. “In these instances, I am looking for employees who are using one of the company’s addresses as their stated home address.

Certified Fraud Examiner Anderson said follow-up investigations of those employees have revealed they usually are doing so for one of several reasons, including:

  • hiding from the government because they are undocumented aliens or parole violators;
  • hiding from ex-spouses or debtors; or
  • trying to avoid paying state or local taxes . . . such as a Philadelphia resident working in Montgomery County who is trying to avoid having the Philadelphia wage tax withheld.

A final address analysis that can be completed when a forensic accountant is conducting a fraud investigation, or a program of fraud deterrence is running employee addresses and looking for employees who have the same address as another employee. While some such persons may be relatives of the employee and could be living in the same household, forensic accounting expert David Anderson said he also has found ghost employees by performing this analysis.

Just as with addresses, telephone numbers can be used to identify potential fraud in the same way, said Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience in conducting fraud investigations and establishing comprehensive fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley. During his investigations, he said he has identified phony vendors and ghost employees by matching employee phone numbers against those of vendors and other employees.

If you have questions about any finance or fraud issues, you should speak with a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates can be reached by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com if you require the services of a Certified Fraud Examiner or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting, and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

What You Should Know About Marital vs. Non-Marital Assets in a Divorce

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence, Marital Dissolution.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

One of the key tasks in a divorce is identifying the marital versus the non-marital assets of the divorcing couple.

To obtain a better understanding of the key issues involved regarding marital versus non-marital assets, David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides marital dissolution and business valuation services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, interviewed Rochelle Bobman, Esquire. Ms. Bobman is an attorney-mediator who is a member of the Bort Law Firm, located in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Ms. Bobman explained that the Pennsylvania Divorce Code sets forth a presumption that all real estate and/or personal property (vehicles, furnishings, art, collectibles, antiques, jewelry, investment, checking, savings and retirement accounts, and businesses) acquired by either party during the marriage are considered marital property, regardless of whether the title is held individually, or by the parties in some form of co-ownership.

Non-marital property includes, for example, assets acquired by gift or inheritance, property acquired prior to the marriage or after the date of separation or divorce filing, and payment received as a result of an award or settlement for a cause of action which arose prior to the marriage or after the date of separation. The increase in value of non-marital property acquired prior to marriage or by gift or inheritance is, however, a marital asset. Parties can agree that certain assets (and their subsequent earnings or increase in value) remain non-marital by executing a prenuptial agreement.

The increase in value of any non-marital property acquired prior to marriage is measured from the date of marriage (or date of inheritance) to the date of final separation or the date of an equitable distribution hearing, whichever date results in a lesser increase. For example, if a party acquires real property prior to marriage, the parties may have to obtain up to three appraisals to determine the increase in value: an historical appraisal as of date of marriage, an appraisal as of date of separation and an appraisal as close as possible to the date of Hearing.

If non-marital assets are comingled with marital assets, non-marital assets can become marital assets. This can happen when one or both spouses deposits a non-marital asset to a joint checking, savings, or investment account, adds a spouse’s name to the title of real estate acquired prior to marriage, or contributes proceeds of sale from a pre-marital property to purchase a marital residence. There is no provision in the Pennsylvania Divorce Code providing for a spouse to receive credit for contributing a non-marital asset to a marital asset. Certain judges and hearing officers have the discretion, however, to apply credit, which diminishes at the annual rate of 5%, and often disappears after a period of 10 years.

As illustrated above, there are many key issues involved in determining marital versus non-marital property. Very often, the parties will need to engage a forensic accountant to trace both marital and non-marital assets throughout a marriage, particularly if some of the non-marital assets have been co-mingled with marital assets.

If you need of a marital dissolution accountant in Philadelphia, or if you require any other services of a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

‘Tricks of the Trade:’ Uncovering Fraud Through the Use of Science

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, business valuation, and marital dissolution in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

This blog is the first in a series of four posts that will examine the so-called “Tricks of the Trade” that forensic accountants use when conducting fraud investigations.

The business of forensic accounting is — most of the time — a very precise, highly detailed process. It might be surprising, then, to learn one of the tricks of the trade forensic accountants use in fraud investigation stems from the very inexact science of probabilities, specifically, Benford’s Law.

“Frank Benford was a physicist in the 1930s who essentially proved an earlier hypothesis by astronomer Simon Newcomb in the 1880s that numbers starting with 1 occurred more frequently than other numbers,” explained David Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant and principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

“Newcomb had noticed that when he looked up logarithm tables in a book he shared with colleagues,” Anderson continued, “the earlier pages (which contained numbers that started with 1) were much more worn than the other pages. Benford tested and expanded that work, and the phenomenon was named after him.”

Benford’s Law, also known as the First Digit Law, states that the lower the first digit, the higher the probability that it will occur more often than higher numbers, Anderson said. Studies have confirmed the concept by showing the number 1 occurs as a first digit more than 30% of the time, the number 2 occurs as a first digit about 18% of the time, and so on, according to Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant who also is a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia. The number 9 occurs as a first digit the least – less than 5% of the time, Anderson added.

Benford’s Law is one of the tricks of the trade forensic accountants use in analyzing financial transactions during fraud investigations, Anderson said. If the results of the financial analysis show a mismatch with Benford’s Law, it is a red flag to forensic accountants that fraud may be present.

In one case, Anderson said, senior management engaged him to determine if any of their divisions were circumventing spending authorization limits.

“The company had a policy that required higher levels of approval for expenditures in excess of $100,000,” according to Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience in conducting fraud investigations and establishing comprehensive fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley. “I analyzed all transactions between $10,000 and $100,000 for each division and found three divisions had a higher incidence of transactions between $90,000 and $99,999 than would be expected. Two divisions exceeded 10%, while the third division exceeded 8%.”

Anderson’s findings for the three divisions were out of sync with Benford’s Law and a further analysis of the transactions between $90,000 and $99,000 revealed the three divisions were “splitting” vendor invoices that exceeded $100,000 to avoid having to obtain higher level approval, explained Anderson, a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

In another case, Anderson said, management had a policy that employees did not have to submit copies of receipts for meal expenditures under $25. When a senior sales representative submitted six months of travel reimbursement requests at once, the corporate controller noted that more than 50% of his meal charges in more than 17 different cities were for the same amount – $24.73 – regardless of whether they were for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

As a result, senior management engaged Anderson to analyze travel reimbursement requests for all employees. Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant whose firm provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, found that more than 70% of all employee reimbursement requests for meals were for between $24.00 and $24.99. But under Benford’s Law, more than 70% of all employee meals with a stated cost of under $25.00 should have been less than $20.00, he said.

“The resulting conclusion was that employees were likely abusing the company’s policy,” explained Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia. “Management changed its policy to reimburse employees at the equivalent federal per diem rates. The only exceptions to this were for business meals at which customers or prospects were entertained. In these cases, the employee was required to provide a receipt.”

Two years later, management analyzed its travel meal reimbursements, and found that it was spending less than it had prior to the policy change, Anderson said. In this case, the fraudulent behavior was stopped, and the company realized material expense savings, he said.

If you have questions about any finance or fraud issues, you should speak with a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates can be reached by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com if you require the services of a Certified Fraud Examiner or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.  Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

A Truly Independent Expert Witness Can Make Your Case Stronger

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Business Valuation, Company News, Expert Witness, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Expert witnesses who are called to testify in litigation are not – contrary to what some people believe – supposed to be advocates for the side that hired them but should serve as independent experts applying their education and experience to the matter.

It should, instead, be the client’s attorney who serves as the advocate for his or her client, said David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in the Delaware Valley.

Forensic accountants, business valuators, and CPAs engaged as expert witnesses are subject to professional standards that require them to maintain their independence (there are some exceptions, such as those related to preparation of tax returns). Additionally, expert witnesses also may be required by certain government regulations to maintain their independence.

In discussing independence, Anderson, a Certified Fraud Examiner who recommends every organization enact a comprehensive fraud deterrence program created by an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, said the professions identify two sub-categories of independence:

  • Independence in fact, and
  • Independence in appearance.

Independence in fact refers to the expert’s mental attitude regarding the matter. It most often reveals itself in the expert’s reports and/or testimony. It should not matter which side has engaged the expert. The expert’s conclusions should be the same (subject to certain assumptions).

However, the expert’s independence could be called into question if:

  • The expert has made certain assumptions (at either the request of the client or the
  • attorney) that clearly are unreasonable, and which benefit the side that engaged him or her
  • For example, if the expert has assumed a mature business would have been able to grow its revenues at a 20 percent rate solely from its existing products for each of the next 10 years or has assumed employees would accept a 50 percent wage decrease for the next ten years.
  • The expert asserts, without providing any corroborating evidence, certain questionable actions of the side that engaged him or her were reasonable. For example, testifying that certain funds improperly taken by an employee without authorization were advances on his or her inheritance because the employee expected to eventually inherit the business.

Independence in appearance, said Certified Fraud Examiner Anderson, refers to how an uninterested third party might view the expert’s independence considering certain facts. For example

  • Does the expert have a financial stake in the side that engaged him or her?
  • Does the expert have a familial relationship with anyone on the side that engaged him or her?
  • Is the expert currently performing work for the attorney on another matter or does the expert have an ongoing working relationship with client that engaged him or her?
  • Is the expert owed money by the side that engaged him or her? If so, is it possible that the expert’s report or testimony could be affected by the potential of non-payment in the event the client does not like his or her conclusions or testimony? This is one of the reasons Anderson said he requires upfront retainers and payment in full prior to releasing a draft report or testifying.
  • Does the expert have, or has the expert had, a past adverse relationship with one or more of the parties or attorneys on the opposing side?
  • Has the expert agreed to make certain changes to his or her report or proposed testimony due to pressure or specific direction from either the attorney or the client? This also touches on the concept of making unreasonable assumptions. A recent prominent Federal Tax Court case – Exelon Corp v. Commissioner – was lost, in part, to the expert doing just that.
  • Is most of the expert’s work performed for either plaintiffs or defendants – the so-called “hired gun” – and not a balance of both?

Independence is a critical aspect of being an expert witness. The decider of fact – whether a judge, jury, or arbitrator – often will consider the expert’s independence in deciding on the credibility of the expert. As a result, expert witnesses must be independent in both fact and appearance.

If you engage in, or are anticipating, a legal proceeding, either as a plaintiff or defendant, make sure you have an expert witness who truly is independent. David Anderson is a Certified Fraud Examiner with experience providing forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

If you require the services of a Certified Fraud Examiner or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

Are You Ready for the Year-End? Here’s a To-Do List

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including business valuation, fraud investigation, and fraud deterrence programs in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

With the winter holidays fast approaching, most of us are looking forward to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, and other such events. But with the end of the year approaching, we also need to focus on those year-end financial activities that are important for both our business and our personal financial health.

Here are some items for you to address before the end of 2023:

Business

  • Have you finalized a budget for 2024? If not, there is still time.
  • Have you discussed with your tax accountant what you can do to maximize your business deductions for 2023?
  • Have you cleaned up your accounts receivable? This includes collection efforts on past due receivables.
  • Have you made sure that all your 2023 payroll, sales, income, and other taxes are paid or will be paid on time?
  • Have you scheduled an end of year inventory count (if you have inventory)? Have you made plans to dispose of old and/or non-selling inventory?
  • Do you have older fixed assets that have been removed from use, but are still on your premises? If so, you should make plans to dispose of these also.
  • Is all your software updated to the latest version? This should especially apply to your security and anti-virus software.
  • Are you fully staffed for the coming year? If not, do you have a staffing plan in place? Now is a great time to solicit and interview potential new employees.
  • Is your website current and updated? Have you removed employees, products, links, etc. that you no longer have?
  • Is your bank financing for 2024 in place? Have you spoken with your banker about getting the best rates and services?
  • Are all your insurances current and adequate (not too little or too much)?
  • Do you have Cyber Security insurance to protect your business against on-line attacks?

Personal

  • Have you discussed with your tax accountant everything that needs to be addressed by the end of the year?
  • Have you made all your estimated payments for 2023 in amounts adequate to avoid penalties?
  • Have you maximized your retirement contributions for 2023? If not, there is still time to address these.
  • Have you reviewed the current status of your retirement and non-retirement investments with your investment advisor and planned for any changes for 2024?
  • Have you reviewed your life, disability, long-term disability health, dental, vision, auto, homeowners, personal liability, etc. insurance with your insurance advisor(s) to make sure that you are adequately covered and have properly addressed the needs of your family and you?
  • Have you had your annual physical, dental, vision and other exams this past year? If not, you should schedule them as soon as possible.
  • When was the last time you updated your will, living will, and medical power of attorney agreements? You should review these with your attorney and other advisors and make the necessary changes as soon as possible.

The above list is not meant to be all encompassing, but rather serve as a reminder of the many items that you may need to address before the end of the year.

I hope that 2023 has been a good year for you and that 2024 will be even better.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.

Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

If you require the services of a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

David Anderson & Associates wishes you a safe and pleasant holiday season. Our next blog will be posted on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.

You Might Want to ‘Thumb Your Nose’ at ‘Rules of Thumb’ in a Business Valuation

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Business Valuation, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including business valuation, fraud investigation, and fraud deterrence programs in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Some trade associations and business brokers, among others, use what are called Rules of Thumb to explain to business owners the “value” of their company. While this may provide some general ballpark approximations of worth, Philadelphia forensic accountant and Certified Valuation Analyst David Anderson said there are many problems with relying on this general principle that could be generally close but not completely reliable or accurate.

Anderson – principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley – explains there can be significant differences between the value developed using a Rule of Thumb and the value determined by a qualified professional business valuator using professional valuation standards.

In the context of business valuation, Rules of Thumb are theoretical units of comparison.  They usually are expressed as a range of multiples of either sales or SDE (seller’s discretionary earnings, which equal the total of owner’s compensation and net profit).  For example, a Rule of Thumb for a certain industry may be that a business is worth 1.1 to 3.8 times sales or 3.5 to 6.4 times SDE.

Rules of Thumb generally presume the business being valued is an average business.  They may be based upon transactions that represent the sale of the assets of a business or, instead, that represent the sale of the equity of a business.  Anderson – a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience conducting business valuation services in the Delaware Valley – said Rules of Thumb also may be based – in some cases – on the presumption the business buyer is paying 100 percent of the purchase price in cash or – in other cases – on the presumption the business buyer is paying a combination of cash and debt or cash and a percentage of future earnings.

Unfortunately, most Rules of Thumb (including those in many business reference guides) provide limited information, if any, regarding the specifics of the underlying transactions which gave rise to the Rule of Thumb ranges.  Accordingly, Anderson, a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia, said such Rules fail to recognize differences in profitability, business lines, customer concentration, capital structure, management, geographic location, and other important factors. Furthermore, local Rules of Thumb may differ from national Rules of Thumb.

Given the shortcomings of Rules of Thumb, most professional business valuation standards discourage using Rules of Thumb.  For example:

  • NACVA (the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts) professional standards state “Rules of Thumb are acceptable as reasonableness checks but should not be used as a standalone method.”
  • AICPA (the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) professional standards state “A Rule of Thumb is typically a reasonableness check against other methods used and should generally not be used as the only method to estimate the value of the subject interest.”
  • ASA (the American Society of Appraisers) professional standards state “Rules of Thumb may provide insight into the value of a business, ownership interest, security or intangible asset. However, value indications derived from the use of Rules of Thumb should not be given substantial weight unless they are supported by other valuation methods and it can be established that knowledgeable buyers and sellers place substantial reliance on them.”

Similarly, the courts rarely accept Rules of Thumb as a valuation method. Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley, cited a case addressing this issue was in re:  Marriage of Hagar – 2010 WL 4807559 (Iowa App.) (Nov. 24, 2010).

In this case, a divorcing couple in Iowa had a disagreement regarding the value of a jointly owned dry cleaning business.  The husband’s expert made four “calculations” of the value of the business ranging from negative $120,000 to positive $79,329.   The expert testified:

“… this is not a valuation.  This was a computation utilizing Rules of Thumb that are documented as industry standards but not using the judgment, simply using calculations following each of four suggested formulas.”

Furthermore, on appeal, the wife pointed out the husband’s expert’s use of Rules of Thumb and industry standards did not require the same professional judgment as a complete valuation.  In this matter, Anderson, a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia, said the appeals court rejected the husband’s expert for not using judgment and using Rules of Thumb instead of issuing a professional opinion of value.

Rules of Thumb can be useful for obtaining a ballpark range of value for a business.  However, a professional business valuation is necessary if the value of a business needs to be determined in any of the following situations:

  • Divorces
  • Shareholder Disputes
  • Economic Damages Calculations
  • Litigation
  • Tax Matters Such as Gift Taxes and Estate Taxes
  • Accounting Compliance Matters (For Audits) Regarding Goodwill Impairment; Purchase Price Allocation; And Other Fair Value Measurements
  • Sale, Purchase or Merger of a Business

If you require the services of a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.  Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

Don’t Forget Personal Goodwill When Calculating Divorce-Related Valuations

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Business Valuation, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Marital Dissolution.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

When determining the value of professional services businesses – such as law firms; medical practices; or accounting, engineering. or consulting operations – it is important, according to a noted Philadelphia forensic accountant and Certified Valuation Analyst, to consider the personal goodwill associated with the professional or business owner.

David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley, explains the Internal Revenue Service defines “goodwill” as “the value of a trade or business based on expected continued customer patronage due to its name, reputation, or any other factor.”  Recent court decisions, Anderson said, have recognized a distinction between the goodwill of a business itself and the goodwill attributable to the owners/professionals of that business.  This second type is typically referred to as personal goodwill.

Personal goodwill differs from overall business goodwill in that personal goodwill represents the value stemming from an individual’s personal service to that business, and is an asset owned by the individual, not the business itself, said Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience conducting business valuation services in the Delaware Valley  This value would encompass an individual’s professional reputation, personal relationships with customers or suppliers, technical expertise, or other distinctly personal abilities that provide economic benefit to a business.  Anderson said this economic benefit is more than any normal return earned by the company.

An example of this can be seen from one of past cases overseen by Anderson, a Certified Valuation Analyst. This situation involved the divorce of a specialist physician who had a reputation as being one of the top doctors in his field on the East Coast.  As a result, he was sought out by patients up and down the East Coast – a far greater geographic area than most of the practice served.  Because of the larger than normal number of patients that visited the practice to see him and because he performed more expensive and complex procedures than most of the other doctors in his practice, he generated considerably more income for the practice than any of the other doctors.

To calculate the personal goodwill of this physician, Anderson – principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley – obtained compensation and productivity data for the “typical” physician in his specialty with the same level of education and experience.  He compared this to the husband’s actual earnings and productivity.

Anderson then capitalized the stream of income arising from differences in revenue generated minus the differences in compensation.  This capitalized amount was the personal goodwill associated with the husband.  He subtracted the value of the personal goodwill from the value of the entire practice to determine the business value of the practice.  It was this value that was used in the marital dissolution proceeding.  In this case, the personal goodwill of the physician represented almost half of the value of the entire practice.

In another case involving a physician who did not possess such a significant reputation or level of expertise, Anderson calculated that the amount for personal goodwill was less than 5 percent of the value of the entire practice.

If you require the services of a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.  Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

Ways to Fight Fraud in Your Cash-Intensive Business

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

While most sales transactions today involve an electronic or paper check payment, there still are numerous businesses that largely deal with cash payments, including cannabis operations, casinos, retailers in low-income areas, food trucks, and small food operations (such as water ice or pretzel carts). For such businesses, the risks of fraud due to diversion of cash are much higher than those of businesses that deal primarily with electronic (including credit card) or paper check payments.

Fraud from Moment of Sale to Internal Depository

Cash can be diverted between the moment of sale and the business’s internal depository (typically a safe or locked cabinet) in a variety of ways. These include:

  • The employee receiving the cash payment from the customer can just pocket the money, and not leave the business with any documentation evidencing the customer’s payment; or
  • The employee receiving the cash payment can prepare a manual receipt for the customer (either not numbered or numbered but not controlled), place the cash receipt in a register drawer, and later remove both the cash and any copy of the cash receipt before the register drawer is removed and counted; or
  • The employee who removes and counts the register drawer can remove both the cash and any copy of the cash receipt before counting and recording the cash in the register drawer and placing it in the internal depository.

Safeguards to protect against the above types of diversion include:

  • Use of video surveillance;
  • Use of point-of-sale systems to record all sales;
  • Use of numbered and controlled manual cash receipt books (with duplicates);
  • Removal and counting of cash register drawers under management supervision;
  • Regular management review of sales transactions.

Fraud Between Internal Depository and Actual Deposit of Cash into a Bank

Cash also can be diverted between the time it is placed in the internal depository and the time it is deposited in the bank. These diversions can be accomplished by:

  • An employee who can prepare and record bank deposits, and who also performs bank reconciliations, can remove cash from the internal depository, record a bank deposit for the amount removed, and “adjust” the bank reconciliation to hide the fact that no bank deposit was made.
  • Alternatively, an employee who can initiate and record credit memos (and who also has access to the internal depository) can remove cash from the internal depository and process a credit memo against customer sales to “account” for the shortfall in cash.
  • Also, for a business that does not or cannot use bank accounts (such as cannabis operations), an employee with access to the internal depository simply can remove cash from the internal depository.

Safeguards to protect against the above types of diversion include:

  • Use of video surveillance;
  • Separation of duties so that no employee who prepares bank deposits makes bank deposits and that no employee who performs bank reconciliations or initiates credit memos can record deposits or access cash in the internal depository;
  • Regular and timely reconciliation of bank accounts; and
  • Performance of regular (even daily) cash counts of the contents of the internal depository under management supervision.

Fraud Involved with Cash Disbursements

Cash also can be diverted as part of the disbursement process when it is used to pay employees, vendors, and others. These circumstances occur in businesses that do not or cannot use bank accounts (again, cannabis operations). These diversions can be accomplished by:

  • An employee in charge of processing cash disbursements creates a non-existent vendor, creates phony invoices, and “pays” himself/herself the amount on the invoices.
  • An employee in charge of processing cash disbursements for inventory or supplies arranges to return certain delivered inventory or supplies to the vendor but “pays” the original vendor invoice to himself/herself. He/she then pays the vendor the revised (lower) vendor invoice amount, keeping the difference between the two vendor invoices.
  • An employee in charge of processing payroll creates a non-existent employee, and “pays” himself/herself the payroll amount.
  • An employee in charge of processing expense reimbursements creates either non-existent expense documentation (such as getting fake receipts from http://salesreceiptstore.com/) or makes copies of previously submitted expense documentation, and “pays” himself/herself.

Safeguards to protect against the above types of diversion include:

  • Use of video surveillance.
  • Separation of duties so no employee who processes cash disbursements can create a vendor or employee or return inventory or supplies. Additionally, such employee cannot hand out payroll payments to employees.
  • Management approval of all vendor invoices, expense reimbursements, and employee payroll.
  • Performance of regular (even daily) cash counts of the contents of the internal depository under management supervision.

The potential cash diversion risks and safeguards discussed above are not all-encompassing but are meant to provide examples. The actual cash diversion risks and safeguards to prevent them are dependent upon the specific circumstances present in the business.

Additionally, very small businesses (as well as smaller non-profit organizations such as sports league snack stands and smaller houses of worship) may not be able to afford video surveillance and may not have enough staff to facilitate the separation of duties discussed above. In such cases, more management oversight would be necessary to offset these shortcomings.

If you want to learn more about how to prevent fraud in your cash operations, a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley can help. For details, contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

A Dose of Vigilance Can Help Prevent Common Payroll Fraud Schemes

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Payroll fraud, says forensic accounting expert David Anderson of David Anderson & Associates, a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia, is one of the most common frauds perpetrated upon businesses and other organizations. This crime can take numerous forms, including:

  • Ghost Employees: In this scheme, the fraudster creates a non-existent employee in the payroll system. The fraudster then enters time for the non-existent employee, resulting in production of a paycheck. The fraudster intercepts the paycheck and either deposits it in an account under his/her control or has a confederate either cash the check or deposit it in an account under the confederate’s control.
  • Terminated Employees: In this scheme, the fraudster works with a terminated employee. The fraudster keeps the terminated employee on the books and enters time for the terminated employee, resulting in production of a paycheck. As with a ghost employee, the fraudster intercepts the paycheck and forwards it to the terminated employee.  The terminated employee either cashes the check or deposits it in an account under the terminated employee’s control (and shares the proceeds with the fraudster).
  • Fraudulent Hours: In this scheme, the fraudster enters a higher number of hours worked either for him/herself or for another employee. This results in a larger pay amount than that to which the employee or confederate is entitled. If entered for a confederate, that person shares the increased proceeds with the fraudster.  This fraud can also result in the fraudster or confederate earning larger pension credits than the credits to which he/she is entitled.
  • Fraudulent Pay Rate: In this scheme, the fraudster adjusts either his/her pay rate or that of another employee. This results in a larger pay amount than that to which the employee or confederate is entitled. If entered for a confederate, that person shares the increased proceeds with the fraudster. This fraud can also result in the fraudster or confederate earning larger pension credits than the credits to which he/she is entitled.
  • Fraudulent Bonus Pay: In this scheme, the fraudster either adds him/herself to the list of employees receiving a bonus; or adjusts his/her bonus amount; adds a confederate to the list of employees receiving a bonus; or adjusts the confederate’s bonus amount. If entered for a confederate, that person shares the increased proceeds with the fraudster. This fraud can also result in the fraudster or confederate earning larger pension credits than the credits to which he/she is entitled.
  • Fraudulent Expense Reimbursement: In this scheme (which applies to companies/organizations that reimburse employee business expenses through payroll), the fraudster enters a higher expense reimbursement amount either for him/herself or for another employee. This results in a larger pay amount than that to which the employee or confederate is entitled. If entered for a confederate, that person shares the increased proceeds with the fraudster.
  • Fraudulent Vacation and/or Sick Leave Hours: In this scheme, the fraudster, who has control over tracking and/or reporting vacation and sick leave hours, takes vacation and/or sick leave, but either doesn’t record the hours taken against the available hours or artificially inflates the number of vacation and/or sick leave hours to which he/she is entitled.  A variant on this scheme has the fraudster doing the same for other employees in return for cash payoffs from the benefiting employee.
  • Fraudulent Diversion of Employee Pay: In this scheme, the fraudster, who has control over/access to payroll records, adds a new bank account (over which the fraudster has control) for an employee, artificially inflates the employee’s pay (via hours or pay rate changes), and diverts the excess pay to the new bank account.  The fraudster counts on the employee not tracking total annual pay (most employees only track their weekly/biweekly pay) and not noticing that the employee’s form W-2 wages are higher than the amount the employee received.

So, how can companies and organizations avoid being victimized by these payroll frauds?  They can take some or all the steps identified below:

  • Separate the hiring and human resources functions from the payroll function.
  • If this is not possible, ensure there is adequate separation of duties so different employees are responsible for different steps in the payroll process. For example, the employee who sets up other employees in the payroll system (including pay rates) should be different from the employee who enters employee time.
  • Require two levels of review and approval for timecards and pay sheets.
  • Maintain a list of terminated employees and periodically check the list against payroll data.
  • Require someone other than the employee’s supervisor to distribute paychecks.
  • Require either multiple signoffs for pay changes (especially for manager and executive salaries) and/or for approvals of vacation and sick pay.
  • Have either a higher-level manager or a third party, such as a forensic accountant, periodically review payroll, including pay rates, hours/time, and total payroll funding amounts.
  • Have either a higher-level manager or a third party, such as a forensic accountant, periodically review accrued and used vacation and sick hours.

Does your company need to enact stronger safeguards against payroll fraud? If so, you should speak with a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. You can do just that by contacting the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.  Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

Forensic Accountants Help Fight Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence, Litigation Support.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support and expert witness testimony services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Facing losses from such occurrences as foreclosures, divorces and other legal proceedings, shady business owners sometimes resort to the fraudulent conveyance or transfer of property or other assets to lessen or eliminate their losses by hiding valuable assets.

When that happens, it is the role of the forensic accountant to uncover the improperly transferred assets and determine their value.

“Black’s Law Dictionary defines fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer as ‘the illegal transfer of property by a debtor to avoid creditors or claims’,” said David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides litigation support services and expert witness testimony in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. “It is a blatant action intended to undermine often legitimate claims filed by creditors, ex-spouses and other parties.

Anderson said the resulting fraudulent conveyance litigation typically involves civil suits bought by creditors or bankruptcy trustees seeking to recover improperly transferred assets or business. Examples of these transfers include:

  • Payments to related parties, including other businesses in which the debtor has an ownership interest, and relatives, friends, or business partners of the debtor;
  • Transfer of title of assets from the debtor to related parties, including other businesses in which the debtor has an ownership interest, and relatives, friends, or business partners of the debtor;
  • Sales of assets at bargain prices from the debtor to related parties, including other businesses in which the debtor has an ownership interest, and relatives, friends, or business partners of the debtor;
  • Transfer of business (sales) to other entities in which the debtor or relatives, friends or business partners of the debtor have an ownership interest; and
  • Gifts made by the debtor during a period of financial stress, including donations to charity.

In cases of fraudulent conveyance litigation, attorneys rely on forensic accountants to document the alleged fraudulent transfer; identify and locate improperly transferred assets and calculate the lost value of improperly transferred assets or business, said Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant who also is a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley who has performed forensic work in multiple fraudulent conveyance matters, recalled one such case that later became the basis for his case study, “The Sore Losers.”

He said the case involved business owners who wanted to avoid a creditor’s foreclosure action by draining funds from the company. Anderson, whose full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley includes litigation support services and expert witness testimony in Philadelphia, said the business owners improperly paid themselves special bonuses and distributions, drastically increased rents charged to the business on real estate owned separately by the business owners, and ran personal expenses through the company. Anderson was able to identify each of the transactions and calculate the total amount of the payments, thereby facilitating the creditor’s recovery of the payments.

Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia whose company offers a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, recalled another case in which a husband who planned to divorce his wife sought to reduce the value of his business to decrease the amount of his future divorce settlement.

The husband sold certain assets to his girlfriend at a bargain price and had a friend set up a competing business, to which the husband directed his own customers. After the divorce was completed, the plan was to have the friend sell a majority interest in the new business to the husband at a bargain price, according to Anderson, a Philadelphia forensic accountant.

The fraudulent transactions were discovered after Anderson was engaged by the wife’s counsel to value the husband’s business. “During my investigation, I noted a significant decline in the business as well as the sale of certain assets during the two years preceding the divorce,” he said. “The investigation revealed the transfer schemes, and I was able to value the husband’s business as if these improper transfers had never occurred, thereby increasing the divorce settlement paid to the wife.”

If you need litigation support services or expert witness testimony in Philadelphia or require the services of a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services.

Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia. Anderson also has provided expert witness testimony in the Greater Philadelphia area and served as a forensic accounting consultant on both civil and criminal cases.

Part Two: Stay Alert to Stave Off Cyberattacks and Hackers

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

In this second of a two-part series, forensic accounting expert David Anderson of David Anderson & Associates, a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia, concludes his look at examples of security failures he has observed in his work.

As he noted last week, many businesses implement a wide range of policies and procedures to protect their property, assets, and data. However, even the best of policies and procedures are ineffective if employees don’t adhere to them. Here are several more such “tales:”

The unsecure data center: Anderson was engaged to evaluate the IT security controls at a medium-sized company based in North Carolina. Their “secure” data center was an unlocked coat closet just off the lobby. Besides having no air flow, which could have caused the servers to overheat, visitors could have easily entered the closet, and even walked off with the equipment.

Common user IDs and passwords: At the same company as above, each member of the accounting department accessed the company’s accounting system by entering “Accounting” as the user ID and “Accounting” as the password. Although the company had experienced departmental turnover, including one individual who had embezzled funds, the company had never changed the common user ID and password.

Not changing locks and system access: At a medium-sized Philadelphia-area company, Anderson’s investigation of the IT and facility security controls noted that the firm issued employees an office key when they started their jobs, but never asked for the key back when the employee left. Additionally, the company never deleted the user ID and password for these employees.

Although Anderson said he was able to persuade the company to remove system access for terminated employees, management did not want to incur the cost of changing locks and issuing new keys. This problem was resolved several months later after a former employee, who had retained his key, entered the premises one weekend, and stole computers and inventory.

Non-secret passwords: This is perhaps the most common “insecurity” Anderson said he has encountered. At many companies, he has seen passwords taped to the monitor, or tacked to a corkboard next to the computer, or taped to the desk underneath the user’s keyboard. In several of the companies, the company itself was the cause of the “insecurity” because many employees accessed multiple systems which each required a new password every 60 days, and passwords could not be common across systems.

Executives who violate access rules: This is another “insecurity” Anderson said he has seen in multiple companies. A busy executive provides his/her user ID and password to his/her administrative assistant/executive secretary to facilitate access to his/her e-mail and personal files. Assuming the administrative assistant/executive secretary is a trusted employee, many companies do not consider this situation to be a problem, even though, as Anderson points out, it usually violates company IT security control procedures.

This situation becomes a problem when that trusted employee is out and must temporarily be replaced. For example, Anderson said he has seen such employees out on vacation, parental leave, family medical leave, etc. This means one or more new employees – or even temporary employees – are granted access to the executive’s e-mail and personal files. Now, because the executive does not want to change user IDs and passwords, no such change is made. This means other employees or temporary employees could continue to access the executive’s e-mails and personal files.

In each of the above cases, the employee’s failure to adhere to the established policies and procedures resulted in security lapses. To avoid the “insecurity” failures Anderson detailed in both part one and part two, he makes the following recommendations:

  • Engage an outside expert to review your company’s security/control policies and procedures to identify potential failure points and provide solutions.
    • For example, changing multiple passwords across multiple systems every 60 days is likely excessive. The expert can suggest alternatives, such as using the same password across multiple systems; increasing the number of days between password changes to 120 or 180 or even annually; or providing a password management tool.
  • Ensure all employees are provided with, and acknowledge receipt of, company security/control policies and procedures.
  • Conduct training on a regular basis, at least once a year, to remind employees of the policies and procedures, and why they need to be followed.
  • Encourage employees to follow the guideline “if you see something, say something” with regards to unauthorized visitors and employees who violate company policies and procedures.

If you want to learn how a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley can help you steer clear of such security issues, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.

Part One: Stay Alert to Stave Off Cyberattacks and Hackers

Posted by & filed under Blog Articles, Company News, Forensic Accounting, Fraud, Fraud Deterrence.

David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

Many businesses implement a wide range of policies and procedures to protect their property, assets, and data. However, according to forensic accounting expert David Anderson of David Anderson & Associates, a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia, even the best of policies and procedures are ineffective if employees don’t adhere to them. The following is Part One of a two-part series featuring examples of security failures Anderson has observed in his work:

When Security Badges Aren’t Effective:

Many businesses require employees to wear a security badge and “swipe” it to gain access to facilities. In one case, a just-fired employee returned to the company that had fired him and waited by the security access door. Other employees who had seen him around (and didn’t know he had been fired), held the door open for him (not noticing he didn’t have a security badge). He then entered the building, proceeded to pull out a hammer, and vandalized several desktop computers until security officers stopped him.

When Security Badges Still Aren’t Effective:

In another case, Anderson said he was visiting the IT department of a large Philadelphia business to conduct an evaluation of its IT controls. He was standing outside the secure data center when an employee with a large cart full of equipment swiped his security badge to enter the data center. The employee was struggling to hold the door open for his cart and, seeing Anderson, asked him if he would hold the door (neither Anderson nor the employee had seen each other before, and Anderson was wearing a visitor badge). Anderson helped and continued to hold the door open until the employee entered the data center and was out of view. Anderson, now in the center himself, went over to one of the terminals, and, if he had been malicious or interested in stealing data, he said he easily could have entered the necessary commands to do so.

When Terminals or Desktop Computers Aren’t ‘Secure:’

When conducting an IT security evaluation, Anderson wandered into the accounting department of another large Philadelphia business. He observed an employee tell another he was going to lunch, and then watched him get on the elevator and leave. Anderson walked over to the now-empty cubicle and noticed the just-departed employee had not logged out of the company’s accounting system. Anderson said he sat down at the vacant desk and proceeded to access the accounts payable and general ledger applications. No one challenged him, he said, or even appeared to notice he was there. Again, had he wanted to, Anderson said he could have caused major damage to the company’s accounting system.

When Confidential Records Aren’t Secure:

When Anderson was a junior auditor (before the days of electronic medical records), his first assignment was on the audit of a large hospital. One of his assignments was to make sure selected patient records had been properly entered into the hospital’s accounting system (to facilitate billing). He said he was unable to locate one patient’s file, and after investigation, learned it was because the patient was still in the hospital (and the records were at the nurse’s station on one of the patient floors). He said he went up to that floor and requested the patient’s chart (He said he was not wearing a badge and didn’t identify himself but was dressed in a business suit). The nurse handed the requested documents to Anderson, saying, “Here’s the chart, doctor.”

Taking Secured Data Files Home to an Unsecured Computer:

At one medium-sized company, Anderson was called in to investigate when their system became infected with a rather nasty virus. It turned out the Controller had taken certain budget files home (on a thumb drive) to work on over a holiday weekend. Unbeknownst to him, his high school son had been using the same family computer and had unknowingly downloaded a virus. When the Controller used the computer, the virus was transferred to his thumb drive and then to the company’s system. What made this worse was that the Controller was responsible for updating the virus protection for the company’s system but had failed to download three years of updates.

Becoming Victimized by E-Mail Spoofs:

Hackers had obtained confidential names, addresses, social security numbers, and other salary information of the employees of a small subsidiary of a larger Philadelphia company. Anderson said his investigation determined the company’s systems had not been penetrated, but instead, the Accounting Manager of the subsidiary had been victimized by an e-mail spoof. She had received an e-mail, purportedly from the parent company’s Controller, informing her there was a problem with the subsidiary’s W-2 forms, and requesting she prepare and send to him an Excel spreadsheet of the subsidiary’s W-2 information, allegedly so the home office “can correct the problem.” The local Controller failed to notice the requesting e-mail came from an e-mail address that was similar to but not the same as the corporate Controller’s actual e-mail address. She prepared the requested spreadsheet and attached the spreadsheet as she replied to the original “spoofed” e-mail.

—–     —–     —–     —–     —–

In each of the above cases, employee failure to adhere to the established policies and procedures resulted in security lapses. In his next column, Anderson will present more examples of such failures, and offer some tips for avoiding them.

If you want to learn how a Certified Fraud Examiner from an experienced firm that provides forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley can help you steer clear of such security issues, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Valuation Analyst.