Near my residence was another old shed with an asbestos roof. Last spring I had decided to have it demolished. What a pleasant surprise and learning moment how the separation of functions was handled here. It turned out that there was a more than clear division of tasks between the various parties involved in the remediation process.
First, I had to engage a company for an inventory and risk analysis. Then another company removed the asbestos and an independent inspection was done with a final report. And sometimes the municipality still does spot checks on the whole thing.
Pragmatism reigns supreme
In my daily practice, which revolves around invoice processing and procurement processes, I notice all too often that there is no clear separation of functions. I regularly see employees from the accounts payable department entering invoices and then approving them themselves. I understand that this is sometimes very convenient, but given the risk of errors and fraud, this is obviously asking for trouble. I also see administrators who can manage the procuration schedule (in which all authorizations are regulated) themselves. And what about colleagues who, always based on the argument of 'convenience', work together from one generic account. There you go with your traceability of errors, fraud or otherwise....
I also frequently see that authorizations granted during the testing phase are never updated. The result? Employees in all kinds of roles are permanently authorized to perform tasks that absolutely do not belong to their function. And then we have that manager who wants to see and approve all invoices. Something that obviously never works if there are many items in one day. Then approval suddenly becomes clicking through, without assessing the content of the data.
Long story short: I stopped being amazed a long time ago, but I do constantly keep reminding the management of these companies of the enormous risks they run, often unconsciously, on a daily basis. Not infrequently, they think it's not all that bad. Until one employee books away tons...
Asbestos remediation as an example of separation of functions
Still, I come back to that old shed. The process in asbestos remediation is very tightly regulated with a clear separation of functions. Each party has its own role and keeps to it. Especially to prevent mistakes and fraudulent practices. And there, dear readers, the financial world could learn a thing or two from that....
Want to talk about that with someone who knows the business? Contact us, we are happy to talk with you!
Sincerely,
Vincent Wouters, Managing Director ICreative
vwouters@icreative.nl
06-22455138
