Skimming
Definition
Taking cash or other payments before they are entered into the accounting records. Leaves no direct accounting discrepancy, making detection dependent on external evidence such as customer receipts, till surveillance, or comparison to expected revenue.
- Definition
- Cash theft before accounting entry occurs
- Detection gap
- No direct accounting discrepancy to trigger normal controls
- Evidence source
- External records like customer receipts and till surveillance
Common questions
What makes skimming hard to catch in accounting?+
Skimming removes cash before it ever enters the books, so there's no accounting mismatch to trigger controls. Traditional account-matching systems can't detect what was never recorded. Detection depends on external evidence like customer receipts or till recordings showing a transaction that the company records never capture.
How is skimming different from other cash theft?+
Skimming intercepts cash before accounting entry, while other cash thefts might steal from a recorded account (creating a discrepancy). Because the skimmed revenue never reaches the records, it leaves no direct accounting gap. The thief's skill is staying invisible to the ledger.
What evidence actually catches a skimmer?+
Customer receipts, till surveillance footage, and revenue pattern analysis. If a till shows more transactions or payments than the company's records, or if customer receipts don't match recorded sales, the scheme unravels. External data sources that the thief didn't control become the proof.
Related terms
- Asset misappropriation
- Schemes in which an employee steals or misuses the employing organisation's resources. The most common fraud category by frequency, encompassing cash theft,...
- Cash larceny
- Taking cash that has already been recorded in the accounting system. The record exists, so the theft creates a provable discrepancy between...
- Corruption
- Schemes in which an employee misuses their position or influence for personal gain, typically involving an external party. Includes bribery, kickbacks, conflicts...
- Financial-statement fraud
- Intentional misstatement or omission of material information in financial reports to deceive users. Includes revenue overstatement, expense understatement, and asset misrepresentation. Least...
- 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...
- Lapping
- A scheme to conceal the theft of cash from customer receipts by applying a later customer's payment to the earlier customer's account....
- Median loss
- The loss figure at the midpoint of the distribution of cases, used in the ACFE's data because it is more representative of...
- Occupational Fraud Tree
- The ACFE's hierarchical classification of occupational fraud schemes, with three top-level branches (asset misappropriation, corruption, financial-statement fraud) subdividing into dozens of named...
- 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...
Explained in these topics
- The ACFE Occupational Fraud TaxonomyA cash theft scheme in which revenue is stolen before it is recorded in the organisation's books. Because no accounting entry exists, traditional account-match...
- Asset Misappropriation and SkimmingTaking cash or other payments before they are entered into the accounting records. Leaves no direct accounting discrepancy, making detection dependent on exter...