The statistics are everywhere and they are startling - fraud continues to run at epidemic levels, not only in the United States, but also across virtually all countries. In fact, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the typical organization loses approximately 5% of its gross revenues each year due to fraud, with the median loss pegged at $140,000. However, this need not be the case, because you already own some very effective tools for preventing and detecting fraud and they reside on your computer. In this article, I will provide some guidance for using tools that you already own - namely Microsoft Office Excel and Access - to help you detect fraud and to reclaim some of your profits that may be walking out the back door.

Two of the hottest technology trends today are electronic content and cloud computing. Even though this is the case, I consistently meet people that tell me that they are not comfortable with storing information electronically and that their trepidation increases when this content is placed in the cloud. The primary reason for this fear is a lack of control and the perception that when there is less control there must be greater risk.

Since we are in the midst of the Holiday Season, I will use a personal example from a few years back to illustrate how relinquishing control can sometimes be beneficial.

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