Growing your business for tomorrow: start by protecting your money today.

• Author: Erich Sontag.
• Position: UB Voices

You started your business because you love what you do. Unfortunately, part of being a business owner today includes protecting what you've built. New research reveals that businesses of all sizes continue to be at significant risk of fraud. In fact the average financial loss due to payment fraud in 2013 was $23,100. Absorbing even one loss at this amount can cause significant impact to your bottom line.

Running a business day-to-day requires wearing many hats. Naturally, business owners tend to focus on the myriad of tasks that are right in front of them--like the daily reconciliation of accounts, attending to client needs and staffing--which of course are all top priorities. I want to remind you to also make time to attend to the unseen threats--like fraud--because it's likely posing one of the biggest threats to your future success.

Several recent high-profile data breaches by major retailers have reminded the business community that fraud and online security remain serious risks to businesses of all sizes. As large companies invest millions in increased security, the target for fraudsters is shifting to smaller, privately-owned businesses that are less likely to have adequate fraud protection systems. As a result, many business owners are leaving their wallets wide open to potential fraud.

In 2013, 60 percent of businesses were exposed to actual or attempted fraud, according to the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP) 2014 Payments Fraud and Control Survey.

In that same survey, over 80 percent of the companies that experienced attempted or actual payment fraud said it originated from outside the organization. The financial losses can be significant, but the losses related to reputation damage can be catastrophic.

Checks continue to lead as the payment type experiencing the most fraudulent attacks.

In fact, 82 percent of survey respondents report that checks were the primary target for fraud attacks at their companies. And while use of online and electronic payment methods (called ACH transactions) continue to increase, 22 percent of respondents cited "ACH debit fraud" (fraudulent electronic transactions) as a source of attempted or actual fraud in 2013.

It's critical to protect your business from check and electronic payment fraud.

The good news is you have access to experts who can assist you--start with your banker. He/she can craft solutions to protect you financially and keep your profits in your pocket. For example...