Prevent holiday fraud with smarter AI spend monitoring. Learn how real-time alerts, mobile capture, and clear policies strengthen year-end financial control.
The final stretch of the year is often the busiest for finance teams. With celebrations, department gatherings, client gifting, and accelerated project wrap-ups, companies see a sharp rise in claims and transactions. At the same time, teams are preparing to close their books for the year, reviewing past data to support more accurate projections, budgeting, and forecasting for the year ahead. This makes clear records and timely submissions even more crucial during this period.
This is also the period when organisations rely more heavily on employee reimbursement software to keep workflows efficient and transparent. Many companies now turn to cloud-based expense management platforms to help them process high volumes of claims while reducing the risk of human error.
However, the end of the year is also the time when fraudulent claims, accidental breaches, and policy misinterpretations peak. As departments rush to clear budgets and employees maximise remaining staff benefits before the year ends, the volume of submissions increases sharply. With teams stretched thin and approvers often away, manual checks can easily slip through the cracks. To maintain financial hygiene and safeguard budgets, companies need more intelligent oversight. AI-powered spend monitoring has become one of the most reliable ways to catch discrepancies early and strengthen internal controls during this year-end surge.
Why Holiday Months Increase Fraud and Policy Breaches
The year-end period tends to combine several risk factors at once. First, employees often incur more expenses during the holidays. These include team meals, client entertainment, travel, courier fees, and event-related purchases. The increased volume creates more touchpoints for claims that may stretch or unintentionally breach company policies.
Second, teams experience limited staffing. Approvers, supervisors, and finance staff may be on leave, which results in slower approvals and rushed reviews. This is when manual oversight weakens, and irregularities slip in unnoticed.
Finally, employees may feel pressure to meet year-end targets, fulfil obligations, or close projects quickly. In the rush, receipts can be misplaced, policy definitions can be overlooked, and some may attempt to get reimbursed for expenses that do not fully qualify.
The Most Common Types of Expense Fraud During The End Of The Year
While most policy breaches are unintentional, the end of the year often sees a rise in several recurring issues:
1. Duplicate Claims
Employees may submit the same receipt more than once. This can happen when multiple staff pay for similar purchases, when someone forgets they already submitted an earlier claim, or simply because the sheer volume of year-end submissions makes it easy to double-claim without realising it.
2. Inflated Claims
Receipts may be manually edited or final amounts subtly increased, especially in companies that still rely on manual data entry. During the year-end rush, employees may hope that busy managers or approvers won’t notice the discrepancy and will approve the claim without scrutiny.
3. Personal Expenses Classified as Business
Gifts, meals, taxis, or entertainment meant for family gatherings or personal errands get mixed into business claims during the festive season.
4. Out-of-Policy Spending
Some employees exceed spending limits for meals or client entertainment, especially when holiday menus and seasonal pricing are higher than expected.
5. Missing Receipts
With the rush of year end events, employees may lose physical receipts and submit vague claims with incomplete documentation.
AI systems are designed to identify these patterns automatically, even when manual reviewers may miss them during busy periods.
How AI-Powered Employee Reimbursement Software Detects Red Flags
AI tools analyse every submission against historical patterns, spending limits, and past claims to identify irregularities early. They automatically surface anomalies based on company policy, ensuring issues are caught before reimbursements are processed.
For instance, duplicate claims will be flagged immediately, even if they were submitted weeks apart. The system can also detect overspending based on predefined policy limits, alerting approvers when a claim exceeds the allowable amount for a specific category.
This automated vigilance helps companies reduce manual oversight by ensuring that potential fraud or unintentional errors are caught before reimbursements are processed.
Real-Time Alerts and Pattern Recognition
The most powerful benefit of AI monitoring is real-time detection. Instead of reviewing claims weeks later, the system alerts finance teams as soon as something appears out of pattern. These alerts may include:
- Claims exceeding preset limits
- Repeated purchases with similar amounts
- Claims submitted outside typical working hours
Real-time insights allow finance teams to intervene early, ask clarifying questions, or reject claims that don’t meet policy guidelines. This significantly reduces the chance of fraudulent reimbursements being paid out.
Mobile Receipt Capture to Reduce Manual Manipulation
Manual uploads create room for error and manipulation. When employees take photos of receipts on their phones, they may inadvertently crop important details or upload unclear images.
Mobile receipt capture eliminates this issue by using AI to scan receipts at the point of purchase. The system extracts data automatically, checks for accuracy, and timestamps each upload. This prevents future alterations because the receipt is captured directly from the source and stored securely.
It also lowers the burden on employees. They no longer need to keep physical receipts or consolidate them at the end of the month, reducing stress during the already hectic year-end period.
Approval Workflows That Strengthen Internal Controls
Even with AI oversight, human review is still essential. AI-powered platforms integrate intelligent approval workflows that direct each claim to the right person based on department, spending category, or threshold.
If a team lead is unavailable due to leave, the system can reroute approvals to backup reviewers without delays. It can also assign high-value or high-risk claims to finance managers directly.
These workflows ensure that no claim is left pending or approved without adequate review, strengthening accountability during the holiday lull.
Setting Year-End Spend Policies Employees Actually Follow
Technology is most effective when paired with clear policies. The end of the year is a good time for companies to revisit spend limits, gift guidelines, and client entertainment rules. Policies should be simple, accessible, and aligned to real-world situations employees face during the season.
For example:
- Clear caps for team meals
- Definitions of permissible gifts
- Rules for splitting bills across departments
- Guidelines for travel or transport during peak periods
When employees understand expectations, they make fewer mistakes and rely less on finance teams for repeated clarifications.
How to Train Staff to Use AI Tools Responsibly
A strong AI system is only as effective as its users. Training helps employees understand how to submit claims accurately, how AI validates receipts, and how to interpret automated feedback.
Training should cover:
- How to use mobile receipt capture
- How to classify expenses correctly
- What triggers automated alerts
- How to ensure data accuracy
- Why compliance protects both the employee and the company
Training reduces uncertainty and improves adoption, making AI tools a supportive partner rather than a policing mechanism.
Conclusion
The holiday months bring both celebration and increased financial risk. With more transactions and fewer reviewers available, companies need reliable systems that maintain accuracy and integrity. AI expense tools improve visibility, strengthen internal controls, and reduce the likelihood of fraudulent claims slipping through during the year-end peak activity.
To build stronger financial governance in the year ahead, companies can explore smarter digital tools designed for Singapore’s evolving business environment. Learn how Summit’s spend management solutions can support your organisation by getting in touch with us today.
