Navan, a US-based business travel and expense platform, has launched an advanced Audit Engine aimed at enhancing compliance and fraud detection. This tool incorporates over 45 adjustable audit checks, with a particular focus on the Anti-Corruption and Bribery flag, which leverages global risk intelligence to swiftly detect sanctioned individuals and politically exposed persons in real-time.

Filling the gaps in travel and expense management

The Audit Engine augments Navan’s existing policy enforcement system, already scrutinizing millions of transactions at the point of purchase. Currently, about 75% of these transactions are automatically approved, while the remaining 25% are flagged for human inspection. So far in the year, the engine has identified over 2 million transactions, including around 30,000 cases involving excessive tipping and numerous instances of suspected AI-generated fraudulent receipts that traditional systems often overlook. The system also covers discrepancies in receipt amounts, weekend spending, and purchases of prohibited items like alcohol and tobacco.

The engine employs multiple large language models to evaluate each transaction against customizable audit criteria, thereby lightening the workload for finance teams by focusing their attention only on transactions that need review.

A user from Pendo.io noted a significant improvement in expense review times, with reductions of at least ten hours per week following the introduction of auto-approval. Out-of-pocket reimbursements are now processed within five days after approval.

Combating corruption through seamless transaction screening

Beyond internal fraud detection, the Audit Engine tackles a critical compliance issue: verifying the identity and risk profile of all parties involved in transactions. Under regulations such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), even a single transaction involving sanctioned or politically exposed individuals can lead to significant enforcement actions and massive financial penalties.

Historically, this kind of screening has required separate compliance tools that operate outside the travel and expense process. This gap between the time a transaction occurs and when it is assessed for sanctions risk creates a structural weakness in enterprise compliance efforts.

Navan’s Anti-Corruption and Bribery check, which can be easily enabled with one configuration step, aims to address this gap by performing background checks on every transaction in real time. This method ensures that compliance teams are alerted without informing the individuals being reviewed.