A Swift reaction helps spot embezzling staff.

Spread responsibility for your accounting and transactions so that no single employee has unsupervised access to financial accounts. Set up your accounting system with an eye toward preventing fraud.

Recent case: The finance director at a Minnesota health care clinic was charged with stealing $80,000 from her employer. Her arrest came after a co-worker wondered why a notation about Taylor Swift concert tickets showed up in the company's account statement.

An investigation followed and uncovered 330 personal purchases she made on Amazon.com using the company...