Big changes are happening! With our new brand and evolving values, we’ve outgrown our current space and found a location that truly reflects who we are.

New Address: 655 Metro Place South, Suite 450, Dublin, OH 43017

Don’t worry—we’re still conveniently located just a short drive from our Worthington location, and you’ll continue to receive the same great service you know and love. This move allows us to better support our team and enhance your experience.

Stay tuned for updates as we prepare for this exciting transition!

Understanding your business’s financial health is essential for long-term success. QuickBooks® offers a powerful reporting tool suite that can provide critical insights to support decision-making and help you comply with accounting and tax rules.

Accrual-basis QuickBooks users should get in the habit of reviewing the following five reports monthly to keep their finances in check and be proactive instead of reactive when challenges arise. Note: Before running reports, confirm that QuickBooks is set to display accrual-basis (not cash-basis) results.

1. The profit and loss statement: Scoring your monthly performance

The profit and loss statement summarizes your business’s revenue and expenses over a given period. Also known as the income statement, it serves as a “scorecard” of whether your business is profitable and how income compares to spending.

This report can also highlight trends. Compare the current month to prior months or the same period last year to evaluate performance over time. Monthly reviews allow you to track whether revenue is increasing, expenses are under control, and margins are healthy.

QuickBooks allows you to break down this report by business segment, location, or class. A customized breakdown shows which parts of your business drive profitability — and those that may be underperforming.

2. The balance sheet: Taking a snapshot of financial health

The balance sheet shows your financial position at a specific point. It lists assets, liabilities, and equity. This helps you understand what your business owns versus what it owes. Compare your current balance sheet with previous periods to identify any material changes. Reviewing this report monthly helps evaluate whether your business is:

• Maintaining adequate working capital,
• Investing in long-term assets, and
• Managing debt responsibly.

It can also reveal imbalances — such as unpaid liabilities or aging inventory — that may need management’s attention. With QuickBooks, you can filter or group the report by class or department to gain deeper insights into how different parts of your business affect your overall financial standing.

3. Accounts receivable aging summary: Staying on top of customer payments

Unpaid invoices can severely impact cash flow. The accounts receivable aging summary categorizes outstanding customer balances by how long the invoices have been due. QuickBooks uses the due date fields from recorded invoices to group receivables into 30-, 60-, 90- and 90-plus-day buckets. Reviewing this report each month allows you to quickly identify which customers are behind on payments and how much is at risk. Timely follow-up on overdue invoices can significantly improve cash inflows and reduce bad debt write-offs.

QuickBooks users with multiple customer types or sales channels can customize this report by customer type, region or sales rep. This helps pinpoint trends in slow-paying clients or potential areas for process improvement in billing or collections.

4. Accounts payable aging summary: Managing cash outflows

The accounts payable aging summary shows outstanding bills and categorizes them based on the due date field in QuickBooks. This report helps ensure that bills are paid on time, avoiding late fees and protecting vendor relationships. Reviewing payables monthly also helps manage cash flow more strategically. For instance, you can defer some payments without penalty, while others may need to be prioritized to maintain supply chains or essential services.

QuickBooks users with complex supply chains can tailor this report to show spending by vendor category. This pinpoints where your money is going and whether there may be opportunities to consolidate or renegotiate terms.

5. Statement of cash flows: Following the money

The statement of cash flows tracks how cash moves in and out of your business. Cash flows are reported under the following categories:

• Operating activities,
• Investing activities, and
• Financing activities.

A profitable business may still struggle to pay bills if its cash flow is weak. That’s why it’s so important to review this report regularly. It helps you understand whether your operations generate enough cash to sustain the business and whether large outflows, such as equipment purchases or debt repayments, are straining liquidity.

QuickBooks lets you view this report over time. For instance, viewing it on a month-by-month or rolling 12-month basis can reveal seasonal trends and help you anticipate upcoming cash needs. This is especially useful when making strategic plans for capital investments, hiring, and financing.

Beyond standard reports: Customizing for deeper insights

While the standard versions of these five reports are helpful, tailoring them to your specific needs can yield even more valuable insights. With just a few clicks, you can filter reports by class, customer, vendor, or location. You can also add or remove columns, sort data differently, or apply custom date ranges. These options make it easier to understand business unit performance.

To save time and ensure consistency in your review process, QuickBooks allows you to “memorize” customized reports and schedule them to be automatically generated and emailed to your management team each month. You can also use the management reports feature to bundle multiple reports into a branded, presentation-ready package. This can facilitate internal meetings and discussions with lenders or investors.

Small habits lead to big insights

Reviewing monthly financial reports doesn’t have to be overwhelming. After you make journal entries in QuickBooks, the software handles most of the legwork. However, if you’re unsure how to customize your reports or need help interpreting them, contact us. We can help you leverage QuickBooks to its fullest potential.

Financial losses from corruption are on the rise, according to “Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations,” published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Nearly half the cases in the latest version of this report involved corruption. Even more alarming is the finding that the median loss for corruption cases grew by 33%, from $150,000 in 2022 to $200,000 in 2024.

Spotlight on corruption

The ACFE divides fraud schemes into three primary categories: 1) asset misappropriation (theft), 2) financial misstatement, and 3) corruption. Its 2024 report defines corruption as “a scheme in which an employee misuses their influence in a business transaction in a way that violates their duty to the employer in order to gain a direct or indirect benefit.” Examples include:

• Conflicts of interest, such as purchasing and sales schemes,
• Bribery, including invoice kickbacks and bid rigging,
• Illegal gratuities, and
• Economic extortion.

Which industries and departments are at high risk for corruption? The ACFE report found that corruption was the most prevalent scheme across all industry sectors — and in all departments where fraud perpetrators commonly work.

Anti-corruption measures

Given corruption’s universal threat, consider these four steps to fortify your organization’s defenses:

1. Strengthen internal controls.

While physical security measures — such as locks, passwords, and video cameras — can thwart asset theft, other control procedures may reduce opportunities for workers to engage in corrupt behaviors. For instance, formal vendor management policies can be particularly effective against kickbacks. Key elements to cover are:

• A formal vetting process to ensure only legitimate vendors are approved,
• Competitive bidding requirements to prevent favoritism and inflated pricing,
• Conflict-of-interest policies that require employees to disclose personal relationships with vendors, and• Payment controls that match invoices with purchase orders and delivery receipts to confirm the legitimacy of transactions before they’re processed.

Other examples of cost-effective internal controls that can help counter corruption schemes are job segregation and rotation, dual authorizations for large payments, mandatory time-off policies, employee training programs, and written job descriptions and ethics policies.

2. Leverage automated accounting software.

Modern accounting software can be a powerful tool against corporate corruption. These systems track financial transactions in real time, providing visibility and control over where money is going — and whether it’s going where it should. Automation reduces human error and minimizes opportunities for manipulation by ensuring consistent data entry, processing, and reporting. Many platforms offer built-in alerts for unusual activity, such as duplicate invoices or unauthorized vendor payments.

For example, expense tracking systems can automatically categorize spending patterns and flag anomalies, such as out-of-policy purchases, high-dollar transactions just below approval thresholds, or spending spikes in specific departments. AI-driven fraud detection tools go a step further by learning from historical data to identify subtle patterns of suspicious behavior that traditional systems might miss, such as repeated transactions just under approval limits (a red flag for invoice splitting), frequent payments to new or inactive vendors, round-dollar transactions, and transactions outside normal business hours.

Many accounting systems integrate with enterprise resource planning software. This gives managers a holistic view of operations and allows cross-referencing between purchasing, payroll, and inventory systems. Integration helps uncover conflicts of interest, fraudulent billing, and other corporate corruption schemes that might otherwise go undetected when data is siloed. Additionally, some platforms allow for role-based access controls and automated audit trails, ensuring only authorized personnel can initiate, approve, or modify transactions, and that any changes are fully documented.

3. Proactively manage financial data and employee activity.

Managers should adopt a hands-on approach to detecting and preventing corporate corruption practices. This includes regularly reviewing financial reports generated by your accounting systems for inconsistencies and monitoring high-risk employees with access to company funds and accounting records.

All employees must follow strict approval and documentation procedures to prevent unauthorized transactions. Detailed invoices ensure clarity on the goods and services provided. Business justifications for significant expenses add an extra layer of accountability. Limiting cash transactions in favor of electronic payments maintains transaction records and enhances financial transparency.

4. Audit your financials.

External audits provide independent reviews of financial transactions, helping managers identify and address irregularities. You don’t necessarily have to wait until year-end for an external audit, however. Consider conducting periodic surprise audits throughout the year as an added measure of protection — or hiring a forensic accounting specialist to investigate suspicious activity.

 

Let’s assess your risks

When did your organization last update its systems against the mounting risk of corporate corruption? Too often, business owners and managers assume that corruption only happens in foreign countries or large multinational companies. But the recent ACFE report provides a sobering reminder that corruption can affect any company, regardless of size, location, or industry.

Contact us to help ensure your organization is protected against these schemes. We can assess vulnerabilities, implement robust controls to strengthen your accounting systems, and investigate anomalies or suspicions of corrupt behavior.