To successfully prevent becoming the victim of fraud, a church must assess its current condition, develop a fraud protection plan and implement the plan. But, it can’t stop there.  Key: The church must live by the plan from that point forward.  It must make a commitment to the future. The plan must be on-going.   A few key elements in an on-going fraud prevention program:

• Establishment of a formal, written program for managing fraud risk.
• Assigning ownership of the task to an anti-fraud taskforce made up of key employees and officers.
• Educating staff and members of the risks of fraud.
• Periodically (annually is preferred) assessing the church’s systems in regard to fraud susceptibility.
• Implementing a periodic review of transactions (often referred to as internal audit).