How to protect yourself from invoice fraud?

What is this increasing scourge?

Invoice fraud is a constantly increasing phenomenon that affects many companies, regardless of their size and sector of activity . You are subject to it as soon as you have an accounts payable process.

Invoice fraud is when fraudulent invoices are created or altered to steal money from a business.

According to a study conducted by the Association of Financial and Management Control Directors ( DFCG ), nearly 25% of French companies have already been victims of this type of fraud . Frauds are generally as follows:

Increase in prices or quantities
Creation of entirely fictitious suppliers
Redirecting payments to unauthorized accounts.

If you have not put adequate protections in place, you are exposing yourself to disastrous financial and reputational consequences. Faced with this scourge, Electronic Document Management software can considerably reduce the risk of invoice fraud. They also help protect your business by automatically detecting suspicious activity, such as duplicate or modified invoices.

Who are the fraudsters?

Fraudsters can be individuals outside the company, such as cybercriminals or organized groups, but they can also be internal actors, such as malicious employees.

Internal invoice fraud:

Employees with access to financial systems take advantage of this to modify the bank details of suppliers (redirect payments) or to create false invoices.

External invoice fraud:

Hackers posing as legitimate suppliers can submit fake invoices or intercept genuine invoices and change payment details. These fraudsters use phishing or hacking techniques to manipulate billing processes.

It is also possible for internal employees to team up with external partners to commit fraud. This type of fraud is common in industries where transactions are frequent or in accounts payable processes that lack transparency, access controls and approval procedures.

What increases the risk of invoice fraud?

A manual accounts payable process or one that incorporates unsuitable software can increase your risk of fraud. If you find yourself in any of these following situations, then it is high time to rethink your supplier invoice management process.

Lack of automation:

Manual invoice processing is not only time -consuming , but it also carries an increased risk of errors . It offers fraudsters the opportunity to discreetly submit false or altered invoices. On the other hand, automated systems make it possible to detect inconsistencies more quickly and accurately. Some can even integrate directly with your ERP or financial system.

Lack of controls:

Without robust approval processes and rigorous controls, employees or external actors can more easily manipulate invoices , validate fraudulent payments, or create fictitious suppliers.

Limited Supplier Validation:

Systems lacking verification features often do not check supplier authenticity , making it easier for fraudsters to submit false invoices.

Lack of traceability:

Systems that don't track invoice history or payment details in real time make it difficult to detect and audit suspicious activity. Indeed, in the absence of a reliable audit trail , it becomes even more difficult to identify and trace potential anomalies or fraud.

System obsolescence :

If your software is not secure enough or not updated , then you are the perfect target for cybercriminals.

As you will have understood, the implementation of software equipped with automation, access rights and validation workflows becomes mandatory to strengthen your accounts payable process and thus avoid invoice fraud.

Implementing suitable digital solutions, such as DocuWare, helps reduce these risks by providing better visibility, automating controls and securing workflows.

Why digitalize your invoicing processes?

The digitalization of invoicing processes makes it possible to secure transactions and limit the risk of fraud . By replacing manual practices, businesses can implement automated invoice validation systems , which ensure systematic verification of information. These systems also allow complete traceability of financial flows, which facilitates the detection of anomalies . In addition, digitalization makes it possible to archive invoices securely , making it more difficult to alter or falsify documents.

Automating invoicing processes also reduces the risk of human error, while improving document processing efficiency. For example, using optical character recognition (OCR) tools, invoice data is automatically extracted, validated and integrated into the accounting system, thereby minimizing the risk of forgetting or being manipulated.

Electronic Document Management as ideal protection

Electronic document management (EDM) is a lever of choice to protect your business against invoice fraud. By centralizing all invoices and other transaction-related documents in a secure digital system, EDM allows you to guarantee the confidentiality and integrity of your financial documents.

Thanks to their advanced algorithms , these document management software can easily detect unusual scenarios in your accounts payable, thus flagging potential threats.

Several other features, such as electronic signature, guarantee the authenticity of documents and their validation.

The DocuWare EDM

The DocuWare EDM allows you to prevent invoice fraud by allowing the DAF or Financial Manager to establish rules and transparency in the management of supplier accounts. Here are some reasons to adopt DocuWare EDM.

Automated invoice data capture : This helps speed up the accounting process by ensuring accurate extraction of information, automatically validating data (amounts, contact details, etc.), and reducing human errors. As a result, fraud attempts are reduced.

Purchase Order Issuance & Invoice Approval Authorization : DocuWare is based on a system of custom user permissions, which allows you to define who can perform specific tasks in the accounts payable process.

Supplier panel management: the solution has a supplier validation system against defined supplier data sets. This helps avoid the creation of fake suppliers.

Approval routing: Workflows in DocuWare route invoices to the “right” approvers based on specific parameters such as vendor name or invoice value.

Interoperability with ERP and accounting software: The integration of the EDM with the ERP or accounting software makes it possible to automatically cross invoice data with existing information in the system, such as orders, contracts or delivery notes . This helps instantly detect any inconsistencies, such as unauthorized invoices or incorrect amounts, reducing the risk of fraud.

An inevitable digitalization of invoices

Faced with invoice fraud, companies see it in their interest to digitize their invoices. This is timely since from September 1 ^, 2026, they will simply be obliged to do so . The GED therefore perfectly meets these two challenges since, thanks to its digital safe, it allows you to keep an invoice and its associated documents (purchase order or delivery note) in complete security and for a minimum legal period. Thus, the company is in compliance and facilitates the implementation of its audits.

Belharra Numérique, your trusted DocuWare integrator partner

Belharra Numérique is the leading DocuWare production capacity in France, with a team of 17 certified consultants, 150 active clients and more than 200 projects over the last few years.

Belharra, Platinum Partner DocuWare, supports you in your dematerialization projects.

National presence
Networking
Certified team
Continuous innovation approach

How to protect yourself from invoice fraud?

What is this increasing scourge?

Who are the fraudsters?

What increases the risk of invoice fraud?

Why digitalize your invoicing processes?

Electronic Document Management as ideal protection

The DocuWare EDM

An inevitable digitalization of invoices

Belharra Numérique, your trusted DocuWare integrator partner

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