Using Stray Dot Analytics

Support contact information

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 404-662-3318 to speak with a CPA for support.

How Quickbooks Online integration works

The first thing is to authorize a connection between Quickbooks Online and Stray Dot Analytics. The purpose of this connection is to allow Stray Dot to import the data needed for most of the fraud detection tests. You don’t need to authorize a new connection each time you want to import updated data to Stray Dot.

The steps to authorize are simple and you will be taken through these when you first create a Stray Dot account. Once you have authorized the connection ensure you select the company you want to import the data for, some accounts have multiple companies so importing the correct company before moving to the actual import is important.

Once you are connected, the dashboard will automatically populate and you can see the results. You can also review the auto-generated report and review with your accountant.

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Quickbook integration steps

Once you subscribe to one of Stray Dot Analytics plan, and login you could easily connect to your QuickBooks Online account to fetch data into Stray Dot Analytics for analysis.

After creating a project, click on “Data & Variables” button to go to import data page.

Click on Connect to QuickBooks to proceed with linking your QuickBooks online account to Stray Dot Analytics.

Next, sign into your QuickBooks account by entering your Email/User ID and Password to authorize QuickBooks to share your data with Stray Dot Analytics.

Then, click Connect to authorize Stray Dot Analytics to access your QuickBooks Online data.

Once successfully authenticated, you will be automatically redirected to data import page.

You can click on Disconnect from QuickBooks link to revoke access.

How the tests work

Benford’s Law Employee Fraud

Benford’s Law Employee Fraud

Naturally occurring sets of number follow a rule called Benford's Law. This rule allows you to predict how often each number 1 through 9 will appear as the first non-zero digit in the data set. Benford's Law is used analyze financial data and identify possible employee fraud. If the data doesn't look anything like the distribution predicted by Benford's Law, it mean the numbers are more than likely generated by a human.

Employee Fraud Detection integrated with QuickBooks Online

Employee Fraud Detection integrated with QuickBooks Online

Do you have a single bookkeeper, accountant or business partner that manages the cash, writes checks and controls the financial statements. Not sure what to ask about with regards to employee or business fraud? Stray Dot Analytics seamlessly connects with QuickBooks Online to empower you with the tools to ask the right questions.

Employee Fraud Detection Same Vendor Same Amount Same Date

Employee Fraud Detection Same Vendor Same Amount Same Date

Stray Dot Analytics employee fraud dashboard for payments to the same vendor on the same day for the same amount. Employee fraud though vendors and payroll is common. We help provide quick and easy ways to view how money is disbursed so you can she what bookkeepers and accountants are doing.

Employee Fraud Facts

Employee Fraud Facts

Employee fraud is likely the largest and most prevalent threat. It is committed against the organization by its own officers, directors, or employees. The median duration for all of the fraud cases is 16 months and the longer a fraud goes undetected, the larger the scheme will grow. Fraud can be especially businesses. They lose almost twice as much to employee fraud. Data monitoring, analysis and surprise audits were correlated with the largest reductions in fraud loss and duration Yet, only 37% of victim organizations implemented these controls.

Under Cut-off Test Employee Fraud

Under Cut-off Test Employee Fraud

Some employees have check signing authority below a certain level. They may abuse this authority knowing those amounts are not monitored. Application produces a list of checks under a predetermined amount for further investigation.

Non-Business Day Transactions Employee Fraud Test

Non-Business Day Transactions Employee Fraud Test

Employees with access to checks and can access the offices on days the business is closed may commit the fraud while they have an opportunity to be alone. We load weekends and holidays into the application where we know the office was closed. The application compares check dates from the check register to those days.

Vendor Employee Address Crosscheck Employee Fraud

Vendor Employee Address Crosscheck Employee Fraud

Employees that use fictitious invoices will sometimes use their own address. Employees may also alter a certain paycheck amount for only one pay period then return their paycheck amount back to normal amount. The system searches both the vendor list and employee list at the same time to find similarities. The user of the application can set the similarity %, then create a shortlist for further investigation. The second test compares the year to date amount paid to each employee to the annual salary amount to the actual amount paid to date.

Fictitious Vendors Test Employee Fraud

Fictitious Vendors Test Employee Fraud

Fictitious vendors test Fictitious vendors will sometimes have PO box addresses or contain certain words like “consulting” or “marketing.” A fraudster may even use the same address for various fictitious vendors. Using the vendor list the application searches for a defined set of keywords. The user sets the words or addresses prior to running the query. Once the vendors are identified using the keyword list, they can be added to the report via the “Shortlist” function for further investigation.

Similar Vendors Test Employee Fraud

Similar Vendors Test Employee Fraud

Similar vendors test: Fictitious invoices from fictitious vendors will sometimes have similar names and address to actual or real vendors. Wayne enterprises may be a real vendor where Wayne Entertainment or Wain Enterprises may not be. The application searches the vendor list data and identifies similar data points. The system allows you to adjust the similarity %. Once a list is generated the user can add vendors to a “Shortlist” to be added to the report generated by the application for further investigation.

Duplicate Payments Employee Fraud

Duplicate Payments Employee Fraud

Duplicate payments test - Employees with control over accounts payable and the checks can submit an invoice for payment twice. They then alter the actual check to reflect a different payee. the system may show two checks went to Globex, but only one really did. The other check was written for “cash” and cashed by the employee. How to use it: The application searches check registers for duplicate vendor names above a certain amount and payments for the same amount on the same day.

Z-Score Employee Fraud Detection

Z-Score Employee Fraud Detection

Z-score is a statistical measurement of a number in relationship to the mean of the group of numbers. It refers to points along the base of the standardized normal curve. The center point of the curve has a z-value of 0. The distance from the mean is measured by standard deviations. The Z-score tool generates a report with a list of all vendors and highlights the outliers.

Stray Dot Employee Fraud and Embezzlement Analytics

Stray Dot Employee Fraud and Embezzlement Analytics

Fraud detection and analytics engine for financial fraud. Help detect employee fraud and embezzlement. CPA fraud services. We support CPA firms, internal audit departments, and government agencies. Tests include Benford's law, Modified Z-score, relative value, fictitious vendors, same vendor, same amount, same amount same day, below cutoff, non-business day and payroll fraud testing. Users can use our CPA service or CPA firms, Internal audit departments, and government agencies can use internally to support fraud detection for their clients.

How to import your data?

Get started by downloading sample data files(datasets) and/or empty templates(to add your own data, You should read our data import guidelines).

In order to use the Stray Dot Analytics, User needs to import (Check Data)Transactions, Payroll and Vendors data to Stray Dot Analytics Online using Excel XLSX files.

To successfully import your data, your XLSX files must be formatted correctly. If you try to upload an incorrectly-formatted file, you will receive an error message. Templates for all the three type of files have been provided below for smooth data import, along with the details of required data format.

Below are some formatting restrictions for files:

  • Files must have a header row exactly matching the respective template.
  • Required Fields can not be null.
  • Special characters are not allowed:
    • Characters such as #, %,', and & anywhere in the file.
    • Using brackets ( ) for negative amounts.
    • Currency symbols: $234 should be 234.
    • Commas to separate thousands (2, 111 should be 2111).
  • Correct and standardise the Date format to mm/dd/yyyy format.

How to set project level variables

Once you create a project, go to the far left of the project list and click on the corresponding icon for Data and Variables.

Once you are at the settings, you can input the correct variables. For payroll set the amount of pay periods you have in a full year, then set the pay period that corresponds to the file you uploaded.