March 8, 2018
A busy dental practice is a perfect environment for fraud and embezzlement. Studies have shown that 30% of practices have already experienced fraud, will experience fraud, or are experiencing fraud now and don’t even know it. While some may think that fraud and embezzlement are interchangeable, they actually mean two different things.
- Fraud is the wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
- Embezzlement is the theft of money or other property from a business by an individual in whose custody it has been placed.
Regardless of which takes place, the outcome is the same – your hard-earned money is being illegally taken from you. The most common type of embezzlement is the misappropriation of your practice’s cash and checks by a member or members of your in-house accounting team.
The perfect storm happens when a team member or team members have motive, opportunity and can rationalize why they are stealing. Such rationalizations could sound like: “The dentist makes so much money, he won’t miss a few dollars here and there” or “I haven’t gotten a decent raise in years.” or “I deserve this because I work long hours.”
It is important for your peace of mind to elevate your fraud awareness and gain information and ideas to take back to your practice. Below is a simple guide to how to prevent fraud in your dental practice and types of fraud that may be happening in your business right now.
Contact the Dental CPAs at Goldin Peiser & Peiser if you suspect fraud or if you would like further information.
The post What Dentists Need to Know About Fraud and Embezzlement – Infographic appeared first on GPP Dental.