With more and more States jumping on the audit bandwagon, below are issues that could trigger the dreaded unclaimed property audit:
1) Non-reporting – A company has not been reporting their unclaimed property and has never reported in the past.
2) Property owners contacting the state to claim their funds.
3) Submitting negative reports (a report saying this is no unclaimed property to report) or submitting negative reports in back to back years.
4) Not reporting all property types required. Submitting reports with only vendor checks and no accounts receivables, miscellaneous type property or payroll checks.
5) Not reporting the type of property or value of property comparable type companies are reporting.
6) Spikes and dips in reporting. Is company reporting consistent?
7) Has company been in the news. Has one company acquired another? Is a company making a big yearly profit?
8) Industry under audit. Are state audits concentrating on the retail, hospitability, manufacturing, insurance, real estate industry, etc.
9) State unclaimed property employees talk amongst themselves informally at industry trade shows/seminars/conferences.