One of the most powerful tools for fraud detection is right at your fingertips: your employees.

Three times as many frauds (43%) are first uncovered through tips as opposed to those first identified by internal auditors (14%), according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). And far more tips (52%) come from employees than any other source.

Tips have been the most frequent means of detecting fraud in every edition of the Report to the Nations, the ACFE’s study of occupational fraud, ACFE research director Mason Wilder told CFO Brew.

It’s not surprising that employee tips are so useful in alerting companies to fraud, Mac Lillard, a certified fraud examiner and senior manager at GRF CPAs & Advisors, told CFO Brew.

“It’s very difficult for someone outside of an organization,” he said, to look at a “particular process or control and know if fraud is taking place.” Employees have “intimate knowledge” of controls and are more likely to notice when something suspicious happens, according to Lillard, who advises organizations on how to set up anti-fraud programs.

Want more on building a whistleblower program? Click here.—CV

There’s been a lot of talk about the opportunities AI offers, but let’s not forget to talk about actually putting those opportunities into action.

To do that, Trintech lays out the deets in their latest white paper, which uncovers how CFOs can effectively leverage AI and automation. You’ll find insights on:

• how to create a plan to harness AI across your financial close, planning, forecasting, and reporting and analytics
• five key opportunities for CFOs to revolutionize processes using AI
• where AI can deliver reliability and transparency
• what AI and the future of finance look like together

While AI offers easier access to huge amounts of data, human judgment and interpretation still need to play a key role in the strategic usage of this data.

Learn how to strike that balance. Get the white paper.

Finance and accounting professionals who see themselves as business partners have a much rosier view of their work, according to a new survey from AICPA and CIMA.

Among the 6 in 10 respondents who self-identifed as finance business partners, 84% were optimistic about the future of their profession. The 40% of respondents who didn’t see themselves as business partners had a much gloomier outlook: Just 15% said they were optimistic about the future of finance.

Why should finance business partners be optimistic? Because they have the data that leaders need to set strategies and develop business models.

“As the demand for data-driven decision-making and sustainable business models accelerate, the demand for strategic value creating finance teams is set to grow,” according to Andrew Harding, head of management accounting at AICPA and CIMA.

Finance business partners’ optimism faded when asked about automation: Two-thirds said they fear the technology will put them out of work. That fear was even greater among those who didn’t identify as business partners, 92% of whom believed automation could cost them their jobs.

For more on the future of finance, click here.—GD

As the president of the CFO Leadership Council, Jack McCullough has his ear to the ground of the profession like few others. He’ll be sharing what he’s been hearing from finance leaders with us at “Next-Gen Finance: Future-Proofing Your Business Operations,” CFO Brew’s May 2 conference in Manhattan.

We recently spoke to McCullough via email about strategy, managing risk, and developing talent—all of which he’ll be speaking about at the conference, for which you can get your tickets here.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What have CFOs been telling you about their strategic priorities?

You will be surprised—perhaps even shocked—to know that embracing how Generative AI and other advanced technologies can give the organizations they lead is the strategic priority.

And the evolution has been remarkable, because CFOs are not exactly the early adopters for technology. But in the last two years, Generative AI has gone from a mystery, to a curiosity, to something to be explored to a strategic priority. CFOs are still doing their duty around cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection, but they see the future and are not going to be left behind.

To read more about CFO’s strategic priorities, click here.—GD

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