Lapping
Definition
A scheme to conceal the theft of cash from customer receipts by applying a later customer's payment to the earlier customer's account. Creates a running gap between customer accounts and cash receipts that grows unless the lapper catches up or is discovered.
Related terms
- Cash larceny
- Taking cash that has already been recorded in the accounting system. The record exists, so the theft creates a provable discrepancy between...
- Fraudulent disbursement
- A scheme in which the perpetrator manipulates the organisation's outbound payment process to divert money to themselves or an accomplice. The main...
- Ghost employee
- A fictitious or departed person on the payroll whose wages are diverted to the perpetrator. Detection relies on headcount reconciliation, supervisor attestation...
- Segregation of duties
- The principle that the authorisation, custody, and recording of any transaction should be performed by different people. Its absence is the single...
- Skimming
- Taking cash or other payments before they are entered into the accounting records. Leaves no direct accounting discrepancy, making detection dependent on...
Explained in
- Asset Misappropriation and SkimmingA scheme to conceal the theft of cash from customer receipts by applying a later customer's payment to the earlier customer's account. Creates a running gap be...