FROM THE RESOURCE GUIDE
Andi McNeal, CFE, CPA
ACFE Director of Research
Proving ROI on anti-fraud initiatives can be incredibly difficult. Measuring the amount of fraud that’s been prevented, determining whether investigations are being performed as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, evaluating whether frauds are being detected and responded to quickly and thoroughly enough — we frequently hear our members express how challenging these types of assessments are to perform. And the effort of explaining these issues to management, who is pressing for formal metrics, can make this area even more challenging in many organizations.
But anti-fraud teams need to be held accountable, just like every other team within the organization. One of the best ways for any team to measure and report its effectiveness is to benchmark its structure and performance against industry norms. Organizations often have historical data about their own investigation teams, but lack access to similar data from other organizations that can be used for benchmarking purposes. In 2015, we released our first benchmarking report for fraud investigation teams, and the response was incredibly positive. We knew there was a need for this type of data, but we heard from so many people — both members and non-members, from all over the world, from numerous industries, from all over the organizational chart — that this was the information they had been waiting for. Two years later, we are excited to release our next edition of this members-only resource, which has been expanded from the first to include additional benchmarking angles.
Some insights from the upcoming In-House Fraud Investigation Teams: 2017 Benchmarking Report include: