Idea # 2 - They tried to keep it secret from me!
A major (but unfortunately former) specialty photo retailer who wouldn't want to be accused of libel . . .
I am writing this in the hopes that business owners will heed what I say about the financial deeds I discovered only after I closed my business.
I will never know the extent of the missing cash and other-self appointed perks for employees. When I became the last remaining employee that I got not only to pick up the mail, but open it.
I opened credit card bills carrying huge balances.
I found years of charges for insurance companies, cable TV, utility companies that had nothing to do with the company or me personally.
I called the first insurance company and asked who made the charge. Because of privacy laws, the insurance company - like the others - would tell me nothing. Bottom line, the offender had more rights than I did.
Then I called the credit card companies to dispute charges. First thing they asked was did I ever give the employees access to use my credit card for ANYTHING?
As I used one credit card in my personal name for things like auto expense and some company purchases in order to gain a few airline points, that credit card company ruled quickly that in their judgment call, permission meant just that and it did not matter what the charges were for.
Some suggestions:
If your business mail goes to a post office box and a "trusty employee" has picked it up faithfully on their way into work for you for years... you are setting yourself up. When I went to the post office for the first time in a decade to retrieve the mail, I could not believe that the first envelope on top was from a bank that we had left years ago.
Bottom line: CHANGE EVERY procedure and the way that things have been done for years.
NEXT: Hire an outside consultant or auditor who really has a handle on how small businesses work and have them come in and turn things upside down.
I spent the money on a forensic computer auditor a few years back and discovered an employee making money - during work hours - ghost writing high school papers for children. Another employee spent work hours looking at some of the worst porn imaginable.
Do you have a "loyal" long term office employee? The one who comes in an hour before everyone else in order to get things ready for the day. What a sacrifice they are making to get there so early each and every morning!
Get up an hour earlier for a few weeks to see how that time is really used. See how many phone calls come in during that hour for that employee each and every morning on your time clock? Are you paying an hour's wages for 10 minutes work?
Next, answer as many incoming phone calls as you can yourself. In my case, I found that my company owed vendors as well as customers who we had sold merchandise for. Long term friends for whom we had sold their camera equipment and then not paid them in a timely manner. Only a few who knew me ever called me about the matter.
One fellow told me that each time that he called that he was told that I was not in until one day he called from the parking lot on his cell phone and then walked in the door to find me behind the photofinishing counter chatting with a customer.
Next, do a credit report on your company and yourself.
Your key employees may have access to everything about your personal life. They know many of your social security number, your phone numbers and likely the names of your parents and your siblings. Maybe even passwords. That makes it very easy to fill out a credit application. One of the first things that I did after finding about the credit card revelations was check out my personal credit activity to see if I had recently acquired a new home or RV.
Trust is a good thing but in my case it proved to be a double edged sword.
Sadly, too many of my (and your) employees think of themselves as "victims." They think
"the owners have it, why shouldn't I?. They should pay me enough to buy the biggest cable package that I can get so that my family can watch 900 channels."
Addictions bring another risk to our businesses. If you've got a person with cash register access who tests positive for crack, where do you think they'll look for fix money?
I knew of another business owner who had a very long term and trusted bookkeeper who developed a gambling problem.
In closing, let me say what I went thru when I called the police to file a report about what had happened. The first thing that the detective asked me was: " Is it in your written policy manual that employees cannot use company credit cards, cash or funds of any type to pay personal bills?"
Don't make matters worse by setting a bad example.
Have you ever taken a twenty dollar bill out of your pocket and handed it to an employee when you knew that they needed lunch? You have just set a legal precedent.
Did you ever give an employee a salary advance when their car broke down and they agreed to pay it back in a future paycheck?
Law enforcement for the most part takes the attitude of: " Why did YOU let this happen? Why did YOU wait years to come forward with this?"
And then if the suspect were to be interrogated, a stock answer advised by some attorney might be: "Sure, I paid my bills with the credit card, he was going to let me pay it back. He just forgot."
editor's note: We applaud your willingness to share this story, and know it isn't easy.
In two weeks we'll be back with more anonymous contributions, but next week is our 300th Issue and it will be nothing buy good news!
