Fraud Symptoms Specific to Small and Medium-Sized Business (SMEs) and Research To Determine The Measures Taken: Gaziantep Case

Abstract

The importance of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMEs) is increasing day by day as they provide various job opportunities in the countries in which they operate. These businesses may face problems related to the issues of management, organization, marketing, procurement, human resources management, production, finance and accounting. One of the most important accounting problems faced by SMEs is fraud, which may be defined as intentional acts involving deception in accounting records or documents by those in charge of top management to obtain unfair or illegal benefit from employees. The accuracy and integrity of accounting records is crucial for all stakeholders. In addition, fraud in accounting can affect employees, partners and business owners as well as the government. Studies show that accounting fraud has reached to dangerous levels. For this reason, it is important to detect, prevent or eliminate fraud in SMEs and take deterrent measures against this problem. This study presented the results of a survey based on the owners or managers of SMEs operating in the Gaziantep Organized Industrial Zone in order to identify symptoms of SMEs fraud and the measures taken.