Design a vendor master governance process that verifies bank details, tax identifiers and ownership before activation.
Warehousing & Procurement
Procurement Fraud Controls Against Fictitious Vendors, Split Orders and Duplicate Payments
Build detection and prevention controls against fictitious vendors, split purchase orders and duplicate payments using vendor master governance, screening rules and payment data analytics.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Procurement fraud rarely announces itself: it hides inside routine transactions, disguised as a legitimate vendor, a rushed low-value order, or an invoice that looks like every other invoice in the batch. This course addresses the specific mechanics fraud examiners see most often in purchase-to-pay cycles: fictitious vendors created by insiders with access to the vendor master file, purchase orders deliberately split to fall under approval thresholds, and duplicate payments generated by inconsistent invoice numbering or resubmitted documents. Participants learn how to build a vendor master governance process with independent verification of bank details and tax identifiers, how to configure duplicate-payment screening rules in accounts payable systems, and how to run Benford's Law and outlier analysis over payment data to surface irregular patterns. The course also covers segregation of duties across requisition, approval and payment, red-flag indicators used in fraud examiner casework, and how to structure a proportionate investigation once a control has flagged a suspicious transaction.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Configure duplicate-payment screening rules that catch resubmitted invoices, altered invoice numbers and near-identical amounts.
Apply Benford's Law and statistical outlier analysis to payment data to surface irregular transaction patterns.
Identify the red flags fraud examiners associate with fictitious vendors, ghost employees and split purchase orders.
Map segregation of duties across requisition, approval, receipt and payment to close single-person override risks.
Structure a proportionate initial investigation once a control alert flags a suspicious vendor or payment.
Brief finance and internal audit leadership on control weaknesses using evidence drawn from transaction testing.
Who Should Attend
Accounts payable managers responsible for vendor master maintenance and payment approval.
Procurement controllers and category managers who authorise purchase orders close to approval thresholds.
Internal audit and fraud examination staff testing purchase-to-pay controls.
Finance business partners reviewing supplier spend for irregular patterns.
Shared service centre team leaders overseeing invoice processing and payment runs.
Compliance officers designing anti-fraud controls for procurement functions.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Vendor Master Integrity and Onboarding Controls
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Verifying New Vendors Before Activation
- Independently verify supplier bank details and tax identifiers against government or banking registries before activation.
- Screen new vendor applications against employee address and bank account records to detect conflicts of interest.
- Apply a maker-checker workflow to vendor master changes so no single user can create and approve a supplier record.
- Document evidence requirements for vendor onboarding, including proof of trading history and beneficial ownership.
Session 2Maintaining and Auditing the Vendor Master File
- Run periodic vendor master audits to identify dormant, duplicate or near-identical supplier records.
- Reconcile vendor bank detail changes against a verified change log and confirm requests through a separate channel.
- Deactivate vendors on a defined inactivity schedule and require re-verification before reactivation.
- Restrict vendor master edit rights to a named group kept separate from purchasing and payment approval.
02Detecting Split Orders and Threshold Manipulation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Recognising Split Purchase Order Patterns
- Identify sequential low-value orders placed with the same vendor within short intervals to bypass approval thresholds.
- Analyse purchase order data for repeated amounts just below authorisation limits across multiple requisitioners.
- Cross-reference split orders against project budgets to detect deliberate threshold avoidance.
- Interview requisitioners using a structured, non-accusatory protocol once a splitting pattern is confirmed.
Session 2Redesigning Approval Thresholds and Controls
- Recalibrate approval thresholds and aggregate spend limits per vendor per period to close splitting loopholes.
- Configure system alerts that flag cumulative spend with one vendor exceeding a rolling threshold.
- Introduce mandatory competitive quotes above a lowered threshold for categories prone to splitting.
- Assign accountability for threshold exceptions to a named approver outside the requisitioning team.
03Duplicate Payment Prevention and Data Analytics
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Screening Rules for Accounts Payable
- Configure automated matching rules that compare invoice number, amount, vendor and date to block duplicates.
- Detect near-duplicate invoices with altered invoice numbers, rounded amounts or reissued PDF copies.
- Reconcile credit notes and adjustments against the original invoice to prevent double reimbursement.
- Set up exception queues that route flagged duplicates to a reviewer before payment release.
Session 2Statistical Testing of Payment Data
- Apply Benford's Law to leading-digit distributions in payment amounts to identify manipulated figures.
- Run outlier analysis on payment timing, amount and vendor frequency to surface unusual clusters.
- Build a recurring analytics routine that re-tests the full payment population rather than a sample.
- Interpret analytics output against known fraud typologies rather than treating every anomaly as fraud.
04Investigation, Segregation of Duties and Reporting
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Segregating Duties Across the Purchase-to-Pay Cycle
- Map every step from requisition to payment against the individuals authorised to perform it.
- Identify single-person override risks where one role can create, approve and pay a transaction.
- Redesign system access profiles so incompatible duties cannot be combined in one user account.
- Introduce periodic access recertification for roles holding purchase-to-pay system permissions.
Session 2Investigating Alerts and Reporting to Leadership
- Structure a proportionate initial review that preserves evidence before a formal investigation begins.
- Escalate confirmed fraud indicators to internal audit, legal counsel or law enforcement as appropriate.
- Prepare a control-weakness report for finance leadership setting out root cause and remediation timeline.
- Track remediation actions to closure and re-test the control in the following audit cycle.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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