Australian Fine Foods’ proactive approach to combat fraud and human error

Overview

From its humble beginnings as a single-product family business in Melbourne, Australian Fine Foods now distributes Australian food and beverage products to over 21 countries worldwide. From retail to wholesale, the organisation works with roughly 150 suppliers and prides itself on efficient delivery and service to even the most remote of locations.

It exports a wide range of products including dairy, meat, seafood and beverages.

Challenge

Even with a relatively small supplier base, Australian Fine Foods manages payments of $1,000,000 every week. While the team was committed to protecting every dollar, Diane says they were contending with the vulnerabilities of manual data entry, which made it more likely for a human error to cause an incorrect or bounced payment – and might have even exposed them to higher fraud risks.

These risks were also higher due to the lack of additional checks after the accounts person enters data, creating a process that was almost entirely dependent on employees never making a mistake.

Given the rising sophistication of cyber threats across Australia, Diane says the team wanted to secure their financial processes and ensure accuracy in every single supplier payment.

Approach

Diane says she wanted a more proactive approach. The company needed a solution that would not only mitigate fraud risks but also streamline its financial operations. The vision was clear: a secure, efficient process that would ensure payments were made to the correct recipients.

Diane says they chose Eftsure for its extensive database of pre-verified data and verification capabilities, alongside its ability to reduce manual errors and protect the company’s financial transactions.

After only a few weeks of setup and training, the team had integrated Eftsure into their payment processes.

Results

Diane’s proactive approach proved successful within months. Implementing Eftsure allowed the company to verify data and ensure that all supplier information is up-to-date, adding another layer of security and helping to avoid potential problems before they arise.

This didn’t just provide them with a way to prevent errors but also allowed them to demonstrate due diligence in their financial processes. The team was able to simplify their auditing process and more quickly and easily provide auditors with the assurance that all payments were being verified. As Diane points out, “With Eftsure in place, there’s no longer a need for additional checks. Eftsure provides us with the thumbs up or thumbs down.”

Additional benefits include:

• Seamless integration. Eftsure was easily incorporated into their existing processes, ensuring minimal disruptions and a smooth transition.
• Time savings. Eftsure’s automated checks helped save time, freeing up the team to focus on other crucial tasks.
• Improved efficiency. Eftsure’s extensive database ensured all supplier information was current and accurate, eliminating the need for manual audits and checks.