Chapter 18
Using Analytics on Purchasing Card Transactions
This chapter shows how the tests in the prior chapters could be used in a forensic analytics project related to purchasing card transactions. The first three chapters reviewed the use of Access, Excel, and PowerPoint in forensic analytics. These are the software programs used in this chapter. The next few chapters reviewed some high-level tests designed to analyze the internal diagnostics of transactional data. This was followed by more focused tests that identified small clusters of highly suspect items. The later chapters dealt with risk-scoring techniques to identify high-risk forensic units. These forensic units could be franchised locations, bank accounts, travel agents, or the controllers of distant divisions. This chapter now applies some selected tests to the high-risk environment of corporate purchasing cards. The methods and techniques in the book can be adapted to various environments by selecting a set of relevant tests, and perhaps even including innovative adaptations or revisions to the Nigrini Cycle of tests or the other tests discussed in the book.
The chapter starts by describing corporate purchasing cards. Examples of fraud, waste, and abuse are then listed. The examples are selected examples from forensic audits of the transactions. The work of the National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals is reviewed together with some results from a poll conducted by the association. An example of a purchasing ...
