According to the 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). the average organization loses 5% of its annual revenues to fraud. Bear in mind, that’s the top line of your income statement, not the bottom. So, for every $1 million in annual revenue, your company is expected to lose an average of $50,000 to thieves.
ACFE: Small organizations the most common victims
Although small and large companies suffered the same median fraud losses ($150,000) in the latest fraud study, a small business often feels the effects of fraud losses more profoundly than a larger organization. Moreover, the ACFE reports that white collar crime tends to be more common among smaller businesses. Small organizations (with fewer than 100 employees) were the most common victims in the 2016 study, at approximately 30%, while large organizations (with more than 10,000 employees) accounted for the fewest cases, at 20.5%.
Read more about fraud in organizations at LSK.
