This course is designed as an applied forensic analytics session focused on payroll risk and labour cost integrity. Participants explore how Excel models, exception rules, Power BI dashboards, and simulation views can be used to test employee master data, bank account matches, overtime spikes, duplicate identity fields, attendance gaps, shift anomalies, and termination timing. The session connects HR records, payroll runs, leave data, rosters, access logs, and cost centre allocations to stronger risk scoring, clearer evidence trails, and faster escalation of suspicious payroll activity.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Introduction to payroll forensics and identifying transaction anomalies
• Common warning signs of payroll manipulation
• The methodology of reconstructing a payroll file to map payments, trace approvals, and quantify losses
• Why the payroll cycle is highly vulnerable to insider threat and fraud
• The psychological risk of routine and compliance comfort
• Cross-matching payroll data with human resources (HR) evidence and attendance tracking to uncover hidden patterns
• The organizational impacts of payroll fraud beyond immediate financial losses, including internal control failures and eroded institutional trust
• Remote work compliance and data tracking challenges