A business’s finances are one of its most important assets. It is a business owner’s responsibility to protect their business’s money at all costs. From insurance to business tactics, there are a few ways to go about protecting a business’s money.
Employee Dishonesty Bonds
While there are more traditional business insurance policies that can protect a business’s financial assets, using an employee dishonesty bond is a lesser-known option. These are sometimes also known as fidelity bonds. This is a type of notary bond that can be set up as a type of insurance. This protects business assets from dishonest employees up to a certain amount; $100,000 is a common insurance amount.
Usually, notary bonds are issued or renewed on an annual basis. With this, there is also an annual fee. These fees cost about $100 or more, depending on how much money the business owner wants to insure, among other factors.
Business Credit Cards
Business owners can also apply for business credit cards. Business owners can choose to have one card that is shared among multiple employees or have several business credit cards under the same account. The better a business’s credit score, the better credit card a business owner will be able to get.
When a business credit card is assigned to an employee, the business owner will be able to directly see which employees are spending money, as well as where they are spending the money. This way, if the money goes missing or if there is mysterious spending, the business owner will have a good idea of who did it (this task will be much easier to accomplish if employees have their own cards, rather than shared cards).
Business owners can also put a limit on how much money can be spent on the card. This way, even if an employee does try to steal from a business, they can only steal up to a certain amount. While a credit card company may not give back whatever money an employee stole, a business owner can still sue for the stolen amount in court.
Receipts
Requiring employees to turn in receipts after each of their business purchases (whether the purchases are made on credit cards or not) can also reduce employee dishonesty. Better yet, business owners should require itemized receipts. These receipts will have every purchase made at the location listed on them. Unitemized receipts only have the total price. This can make it almost impossible for employees to successfully lie about their spending.
Business owners should use these tips to protect their finances. After all, you can never be too careful!
