// Fraud schemes
Revenue and receivables review
Skimming, lapping, false credits and write-offs, cash larceny, register disbursements, false sales, and sales-side conflicts of interest.
Skimming — unrecorded sales
An employee collects payment for a sale or service and never records the transaction, so the money never enters the accounting records. The scheme depends on the same person taking…
S02Skimming — understated sales (false voids and discounts)
The sale is recorded, but for less than the customer paid. The employee keeps the difference by voiding the sale after the customer leaves, posting an unauthorized discount or price…
S03Receivables skimming — lapping
An employee takes one customer's payment and covers the shortage by applying a later payment from a second customer to the first customer's account, then a third customer's payment to…
S04Receivables skimming — false write-offs and credits (including utility billing adjustments)
An employee keeps a customer's payment and removes the balance from receivables with a write-off, credit memo, false return, discount, or, in utility and municipal billing, a meter or billing…
S05Cash larceny (theft after recording)
Cash is stolen after the receipt has been recorded: from the register drawer, the deposit bag, or the deposit itself. The books show the receipt but the bank never receives…
S15Register disbursements (false refunds, false voids)
A cashier records a fictitious refund or void, or overstates a real one, and removes the corresponding cash from the drawer. Unlike skimming, the sale was recorded; the disbursement is…
S18False sales and shipping
An employee creates false sales or shipping documents so that inventory is shipped to themselves or an accomplice. The resulting receivable is later written off, credited, or left to age.
S21Conflict of interest — sales
An employee with a hidden interest in a customer sells to it below normal price, grants excessive discounts, credits, or refunds, writes off its balances, or extends unusual credit terms.