Preventing Fraud in your Business*

Cheque Fraud Prevention

• Make sure your cheques are reviewed by RBC Royal Bank and incorporate security features that help combat counterfeiting.
• Always store your cheques, deposit slips, bank statements, etc in a secure location.
• Shred cancelled cheques and old statements, or store under the same security as your un-issued cheques.
• Ensure cheques are held in proper custody during the authorizing or signing process. For example, do not leave a completed cheque with one signature in the "in" box of the person who will countersign - deliver and handle such cheques personally.
• Change the locks on your facility periodically, including when an employee leaves your employment.
• Reconcile your bank statement daily.
• Subscribe to Positive Pay, Payee Match or Reverse Positive Pay products - which will expedite your cheque reconciliation process
• Make sure all of the cheques are present when receiving a re-order shipment. Report missing cheques to your bank/cheque supplier immediately. Stolen cheque stock is sometimes mistaken as simply lost, or never sent.
• Don't leave blank spaces on the payee and amount lines.
• Use dark ink that can't be easily erased or covered over.
• Have different accounts for different functions, for example, one for payroll, one for accounts payable, cheque issuance etc. It will be easier to reconcile as only certain transactions will go through each specific account, and if one needs to be closed, other parts of your business can continue without delay.
• Enrol in RBC^® Online Banking⁺ or RBC Express, which provides quick and easy account reconciliation, at your convenience.

Segregation of Duties

Separating duties is critical to ensure that errors or irregularities are prevented or detected on a timely basis during the normal course of business. We list below, examples of some corporate duties that should be separated, that is, the same employee should not:

• Authorize a transaction and receive and maintain custody of the asset that resulted from the transaction.
• Receive cheques (payment on account) and approve Accounts Receivable write-offs.
• Make deposits and reconcile bank statements.
• Approve time cards and have custody of, or issue payroll cheques.
• Issue cheques and reconcile bank statements.
• Approve cheques (including calls from the bank or exception reports) and issue cheques or reconcile bank statements.

*This material is provided for general guidance and informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide specific advice and should not be relied upon in that regard.
^®Registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada.
⁺RBC Online Banking is offered by Royal Bank of Canada.