From the CEO’s Desk: The state of invoice fraud in 2021

With organisations moving to a remote and hybrid workforce as a result of the pandemic, businesses and individuals are seeing more threats from fraudsters than ever before. The ACCC has reported that from the period of January to October in 2021, there has been reported more than $248 million lost over 250,000 reports to fraud - a staggering 95.4% increase from the year prior. Invoice fraud alone has caused a loss of more than $14 million for Australian businesses.  

As invoice fraud continues to be a prevalent issue organisations have to be weary of, Alii provides organisations with the tools to match, validate, automate and approve invoices to allow for extra protection of finance systems and data. Through accounts payable automation, Alii clients have been able to securely process more than 900,000 invoices over the course of 2021, providing accounts payable teams with the assurance that their data and finances are secured and protected.

What this means for organisations in 2022

In 2022, accounts payable processes as we knew them will further recede into the past. Looking ahead, organisations will continue to adopt innovative automation strategies, refine their processes and better leverage their human resources while relying on the information provided by refined technology.

Unfortunately, with the growth of reports ACCC have received over recent years, we can expect fraud - especially payment fraud to continue to be a prevalent issue organisations will need to be wary of, even in a post-pandemic world. Fortunately, technology is continuing to advance alongside fraud threats which means that how we prevent against threats is ever evolving.

When considering technology to help mitigate fraud threats, organisations should be on the lookout for automation capability that allows for:

• Business Number validation – Making automated checks against business records to ensure the supplier validity.
• Internal supplier details validations – Automatically checking whether the supplier details on the invoice match master supplier records.
• Duplicate check – Automatically making sure the received invoice is unique.
• Purchase order matching – Automatically identifying whether the invoice references a purchase order, and whether the supplier and purchase details match what is on the invoice and automatically importing the PO approval if it matches.
• Bank account verification – Automatically validating that the bank account listed on the invoice matches the one in supplier records.

Ensuring that technology can meet and exceed security and protection requirements against fraud is a critical part in an organisations digital transformation journey. As risks increase, accounts payable platforms need to remain agile in order to stay ahead of risks.  

Our commitment to our community

Finance leaders know that to digitally transform an accounts department requires time. At Alii, we are committed, and able, to help make your journey a success.

We are dedicated to staying at the forefront of security and technology trends to help to protect you and your organisation from the impacts of invoice fraud and alike.

In 2022, here’s what you can look forward to from the Alii platform:

• New release and in-app features to allow for optimised usage and insights into your account-payable data
• Improved OCR engine to validate invoices
• Enhanced integrations with the tools your team already uses
• In-app support and help documentation to assist your digital transformation journey

We’re excited to strengthen your organisation in 2022, to be achieved with innovation, a commitment to our values, and not least, your invaluable suggestions and support, helping to make Alii the best it can be.

Warmest wishes for a prosperous 2022!