Stop the Rubber Stamp & Protect Your Payments

Using a rubber stamp for check approvals makes it easy for unauthorized payments to go through unnoticed.

I had a call with a client this week who told me a crazy story.

Billy (not his real name) runs a restoration company, and he found out—too late—that his AP person and a production manager were running a little side hustle together. The scam? They created a fake employee on the payroll report. When payroll ran, the AP person cut a check to a friend, the friend cashed it, and the three of them split the money. By the time Billy caught on, they had skimmed about $30,000.

How? A rubber stamp.

The AP person had a stamp with Billy’s signature, so he never actually signed the checks. It was too easy.

I just talked to another owner who told me that three people have access to their rubber stamp. Three! That’s three too many.

If you have a rubber stamp with your signature on it—get rid of it today. There’s no reason for anyone to have unrestricted access to sign checks on your behalf.

But let’s go beyond just physically signing your checks. You need to be 100% sure that every check you sign and every ACH payment you approve is correct, justified, and going to the right place.

Before You Sign That Check or Approve That ACH Payment, Do This:

Check the Job P&L (Cash) – Confirm what’s already been paid on the job so you don’t double-pay and if there’s a draw schedule, confirm you’ve been paid as planned.

Review the Estimate Against the Invoice – This shows what should have been invoiced. If something looks off, dig deeper.

Compare to the Job Budget Sheet – Whether from your management software or a manual system, make sure budgeted costs align with actual costs before approving payments.

Verify There’s an Invoice in the Customer’s Name – If you’re paying out labor or materials, make sure you’ve invoiced the customer for those costs. This prevents you from covering expenses that never get reimbursed.

Check the Certificate of Insurance (COI) – Ensure your subcontractors have active insurance coverage for the period they worked.

Before Making Final Payments to Subcontractors, Confirm the COS (Certificate of Satisfaction) – You don’t want to release final funds before verifying that the job is actually complete and meets your standards.

Tighten Up Your Financial Controls

If you’re casually signing checks or approving electronic payments without verifying where the money is going, you’re making it way too easy for mistakes—or fraud—to happen.

Slow down. Verify. And stop using a rubber stamp.

I love helping restoration owners become more profitable, reduce the chaos, and build a business they can sell for a lot of money when they decide to move on. If you need help tightening up your financial controls—or anything else in your business—book a call with me.