What Is a Lapping Scheme? How It Works & Prevention

A lapping scheme is usually caused by poor segregation of duties, nonexistent or inefficient internal controls, and inadequate supervision. Understanding how it is perpetrated in the business can help you detect it before your losses eat up your profits. We’ll teach you what preventive measures you can take against this fraudulent act, such as rotating employees, implementing strong internal cash controls, and running lifestyle checks.

How Does a Lapping Scheme Work?

A lapping scheme is a continuous fraud because of how it is performed. It requires constant manipulation of customer payments to keep the scheme working.

The lapping scheme is an ongoing fraud because the fraudster always needs the next customer’s cash payment to apply to the previous customer’s invoice. Hence, the latest customer’s invoice will remain outstanding until the next customer pays. A lapping scheme seems like a bottomless pit of fraud but it can end in any of the following circumstances:

• The thief pays back the amount stolen to permanently cover up the fraud.
• The thief writes off an outstanding invoice as bad debt. In our example above, if the employee writes off Customer C’s invoice, there is no need to continue the coverup. The employee in charge of applying payments to invoices should never have the authority to write off an invoice as bad debt.
• The employer uncovers the fraud through spot checks, audits, and job rotations.
• The thief resigns from the company and their replacement uncovers the fraud.

Here’s how an employee commits the lapping scheme fraud by looking at the elements of the fraud triangle:

• Incentive: The employee might be experiencing financial difficulties and need additional funds to pay off debt. However, a financial crisis is not the only plausible reason to perform lapping. It’s also possible that the employee just wants additional cash to support a lavish lifestyle.
• Opportunity: To perform lapping, the employee must have access to customer records and must be the one collecting payments from customers. These two incompatible duties create an opportunity for the employee to manipulate records and pocket cash collections.
• Rationalization: There are many reasons for an employee to rationalize lapping. Poor compensation is a common reason for stealing. If companies aren’t paying employees enough, they’ll be tempted to steal from the business. However, hatred for management can be another. If business managers or owners are too strict, employees may retaliate by committing fraud so that the business suffers.

Opportunities for Lapping

Employees with the rationalization and incentive will likely find the opportunity to commit fraud. Here are some of the opportunities to commit lapping:

Poor Segregation of Duties

Segregation of duties is an important aspect of a good internal control system. Two of the key duties to keep separate are receiving customer payments and recording the payment received in the accounting books.

In a lapping scheme, the recording and custody functions overlap in a single employee.

• The employee can update customer records (i.e., by having access to customer database and subsidiary ledger).
• The employee physically collects the cash from the customer.

When recording and custody functions overlap, employees with the right rationalization and incentive to perform a lapping scheme will use this opportunity to steal money from the business.

For example, let’s assume that Employee A is in charge of receiving cash and Employee B is in charge of updating the records. If Employee A pockets customer payments, Employee B will eventually notice customers aren’t paying, which will trigger further investigation that will uncover Employee A’s lapping scheme.

Inefficient or Nonexistent Internal Controls

When internal controls are absent or inefficient, a lot of opportunities for fraud are created, not just specifically a lapping scheme. Think of internal controls as the immune system of the business. If the immune system isn’t doing its job, viruses and bacteria can take over and cause illness.

The same concept applies to a business: internal controls protect the business from fraud. But aside from fraud protection, they ensure that the business properly accounts for all transactions, which could help owners assess business performance.

Our related resources:

• Employee Theft: Small Business Guide [Policy Template]
• Retail Theft Prevention Tips for Small Businesses
• Employee Engagement Ideas for Your Workplace

Inadequate Supervision

They say that when the cat’s away, the mouse will play. Fraudsters find the lack of supervision an opportunity to commit fraud. In a lapping scheme, there is inadequate supervision when the:

• Employee’s work isn’t approved or reviewed by another person
• Business owner doesn’t make the effort to oversee the financial aspect of the business

As the business owner, being involved in the business’ accounting and financial affairs is part of the responsibility. You must provide oversight and supervision in business areas that lack proper supervision, and if ongoing supervision is needed, consider hiring more people to handle supervisory responsibilities.

How to Prevent Lapping Schemes

Though lapping schemes can cost your business a lot of money if left undetected, you can implement preventive measures to prevent them from happening.

1. Rotate Employees

Rotating employees regularly prevents fraudsters from doing a lapping scheme. Since lapping requires constant manipulation of cash collections, it’s easy to spot lapping whenever another employee takes over the position. That’s why employee rotations will definitely discourage fraudsters in doing a lapping scheme. Rotations can be done monthly, semi-annually, or annually for administrative positions.

2. Have Strong Internal Cash Controls & Proper Segregation of Duties

Internal cash controls can also deter lapping schemes, especially if incompatible roles are properly segregated. The easiest way to prevent lapping is to encourage customers to pay electronically, such as via credit cards or bank transfers.

Electronic payments eliminate the need to handle physical cash in the business, which removes the incentive for a lapping scheme. Other internal controls over cash that can prevent lapping includes:

• Monthly bank reconciliations
• Owner oversight on bank accounts and transactions
• Strict control over checks
• Spot checks and audits

Keep reading:

• Cash vs Credit Card Spending Statistics
• How to Accept Credit Cards for Your Small Business
• Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies
• Best Credit Card Processing QuickBooks Integrations

3. Run Employee Lifestyle Checks

Since lapping schemes involve the theft of cash, a red flag exists when the employee exhibits changes in their lifestyle that don’t match their current income level. Lifestyle checks examine if the employee is living beyond their means, such as living lavishly.

As the business owner, you should try to observe your employees’ actions and behaviors. Getting to know them on a personal level can also reveal things about their personal life that might raise some red flags.

4. Understand Employee’s Financial State

An employee may have a financial crisis due to several reasons, such as a medical emergency or plenty of personal debts. Employees experiencing financial problems are at greater risk of committing fraud, especially if they have access to cash and customer records.

However, having financial problems doesn’t usually result in fraud. Most employees’ ethics and principles prevent them from committing fraud amid financial turmoil, but sometimes theft happens.

As a business, it’s a wise decision to be careful and consider the possibility of fraud if employees are experiencing a financial crisis. In doing so, you may perform the following:

• Get to know your employees at a personal level
• Offer financial support or assistance to employees (e.g., salary loans)
• Conduct financial literacy workshops or seminars
• Re-assign employee to another position that won’t have direct control over cash
• Enhance support and supervision over the employee if needed, such as conducting weekly one-on-ones or offering to reduce their workloads

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

Knowing what a lapping scheme is and how perpetrators do it can help protect your business from this fraud scheme. However, your participation as a business owner is also crucial in preventing the proliferation of fraudulent acts.