In a recent posting about vacation deprivation in the United States, one area that we addressed was the importance of having anyone who works with the company’s financial data take at least a straight week off for vacation. If an employee in this position refuses to take time off, that can be a danger signal for the employer.News over the past years has spotlighted some of the major white-collar crime figures. However my CPA finds “creative bookkeeping” at all levels, in small businesses as well as large. Sometimes it is just a couple of thousand dollars to help oneself over a hump, and sometimes it goes on undetected for years. Companies with fewer than 100 employees account for half of employee theft. The National White Collar Crime Center estimates that two-thirds of employees, when placed in a position of financial trust, would abuse that trust, given the opportunity. I find this statistic to be stunning. I want to say that they must be mistaken. It is hard to imagine that my friends and colleagues would be susceptible.

I will continue to believe that the majority of us are trustworthy, but from a corporate angle, not using safeguards to frequently monitor financial areas would be negligent. This negligence translates to about 5.5 percent of annual revenue in an affected company, according to Allison Grant of the Newhouse News Service. That in turn affects more than a loss of money. It includes wasted time, lost opportunities, and sometimes your reputation. Vacations should never be looked at as a negative for a company. Besides giving people needed breaks that can subsequently increase productivity and reduce stress, they can help to spotlight problem areas, not only in finance but in any department.