Effective Strategies for Internal Theft Prevention

Safeguarding Your Business

When you own a business, theft is often at the top of your list of concerns. It’s easy enough to protect your business against intruders and theft perpetrated by outsiders. It’s more difficult, though, to guard against internal theft. What is internal theft? Certainly, it includes employee theft, but the term also encompasses other types of internal fraud, whether at the hands of owners, executives, accountants, suppliers, or third party suppliers. How can you prevent this kind of insider theft? Let’s look at some actionable strategies to safeguard your business.

Lowering the Risk of Corporate Theft

Start with background checks. Thorough background checks are crucial, not just for employees but also for third party providers and suppliers.
Perform audits regularly. Make it a systematic part of your business operations to conduct regular audits, reviewing financial records, checking inventory, and monitoring internal controls. When people know audits are a regular practice, it discourages office pilferage. Make use of professional auditors, who can evaluate your organization’s financial integrity without bias, as well as helping you to find pitfalls and actionable solutions to address them.
Embrace technology for inventory management. Especially for retail and supply chain providers, efficient inventory manage is vital in preventing internal theft. Barcode scanning, radio-frequency identification, and other technological means of accurately tracking inventory, minimizes error and helps identify discrepancies in real time.
Maintain control of access to sensitive areas and valuable assets. Having reliable access control systems in place will reduce the opportunity for unauthorized individuals to engage in malicious activities, like theft. Security codes, biometric authentication, and key cards are a few of the options available to you to prevent unauthorized access. The other benefit of using these protections is that you will be able to track and record access, so that you’ll have an information trail if an incident occurs. On a similar note, keep track of any keys that are issued, and make sure they’re returned when an employee leaves the company.
Install an effective security system. Video surveillance, including CCTV cameras as well as outdoor security cameras, can help protect against internal theft. Be careful to understand the law, though, so that you aren’t unlawfully infringing on your employees’ privacy. Having an alarm system is also a good deterrent. Work with a reputable security provider, to design a security system that has the right features for your business while making sure you’re compliant with any pertinent laws or regulations.

Trust Accurate Security to Help You Protect Your Business

Since 1968, Accurate Security has served homes and businesses in the Lower Mainland, and we’re the Greater Vancouver area’s premier choice for safety and security. One of the few family businesses left in the industry, Accurate Security was founded by Mark Oljaca and is now led by his son, Tony Oljaca. From our beginnings as a single locksmith store, we have expanded to seven different locations, offering a wide range of product and services beyond and including locksmithing. Our nearly 70 employees have vast knowledge and expertise, and we are committed to the safety and security of our customers. Providing a complete range of safety and security systems, various products, and state of the art services, we provide prompt and professional services that ensure you never have to feel unsafe in your home or workplace again. For a free security screening or to learn more about all we have to offer, get in touch with our seasoned team by calling 604.777.3888 or contacting us through our website.