Fraud

A one-day workshop

Fraud should not happen, but it does. It can happen at the highest to lowest levels in an organisation. Recent surveys show that incidents of fraud are not decreasing. Fraud costs companies money and, perhaps even more importantly, reputational damage.

The losers are not just the shareholders, suppliers, customers, etc, but society as a whole.

This programme shows why frauds happen, how organisations put themselves at risk and what they can do to prevent it.

Objectives

Learning objectives

This programme will help directors and others understand:

  • The motives for committing fraud
  • Directors’ responsibilities for identifying and reporting fraud
  • What types of frauds there are
  • How frauds are perpetrated
  • How they can be prevented
  • How regulators deal with fraud

Above all, the principal objective of this programme is to help make your organisation as secure as possible from the threat of fraud.

Audience

Who should attend?

Auditors are expected to identify material frauds – but so are directors and senior executives.

This programme is ideal for directors, senior management teams, senior finance personnel and internal auditors.

Auditors in private practice would also benefit.

Format

Format

A thoroughly practical one-day session involving exercises, formal tutorials and trainer-facilitated discussions.

The course material has been developed to meet the needs of many successful companies by supporting their management improvement programmes.

The programme can be tailored to meet the needs of the public sector, voluntary organisations and charities.

Special features

Special features

The programme can be tailored to meet the needs of the public sector, voluntary organisations and charities.

Meet the trainer

Expert trainer

Ralph is, unusually, dual-qualified as both an engineer and a chartered accountant. Having worked initially as an engineer, he qualified as an accountant and was a manager in one of the big international accountancy firms before setting up his own audit and consultancy practice. His clients include many international businesses from the banking, power, telecom, oil, manufacturing, engineering, construction and retail sectors. Ralph is a director of several companies, including start-ups and charities, and was formerly a ‘public member’ of the board of Network Rail.

The author of a number of books, including Finance and Accounting Desktop Guide, Practical Investment Appraisal and The Complete Guide to International Financial Reporting Standards, Ralph is in great demand as a lecturer and trainer. He presents technical update courses on behalf of professional organisations such as the ACCA, ICAEW as well as training programmes on behalf of institutions and commercial organisations in the UK and internationally.

Ralph’s unusual combination of depth of technical expertise with breadth of approach and excellent training skills makes him a very popular trainer with audiences from all backgrounds and at all levels. See what people have said about his training:

‘A very good presentation’

‘Was eloquent and seemed to genuinely enjoy talking about subject matter’

‘Quizzes helped me to think more about fraud’

‘Good mix of teaching and group work’

‘Energetic trainer’

‘Good use of examples made the theory work on a practical level’

‘An entertaining review of a potentially dry subject’

1 Motives for committing fraud – drivers of fraud

Session objective: to understand why people might commit fraud

  • Drivers of fraudulent behaviour
    • Ambition
    • Greed
    • Theft
    • Conceit?
  • And more!

2 Accounting mechanisms that allow fraud

Session objective: to review the elements of the accounting, internal control and management processes that allow creative accounting

  • Income or liability?
  • Asset or expense?
  • Coding errors and misclassification
  • Netting off and grossing up
  • Off-balance sheet items

3 Structures that allow fraud

Session objective: to consider company and trading structures that allow frauds to be perpetrated

  • Group structures
  • Trading structures
  • Tax havens
  • Importing and exporting

4 Interpretations and other non-compliance that allow fraud

Session objective: to look at how creative interpretations of law and accounting practice may permit fraud

  • The place of accounting standards
  • Accounting policies
  • Trading methods
  • The place of auditing standards

5 Money laundering

Session objective: to review what constitutes money laundering

  • Types of money laundering
  • Identifying laundering
  • Preventing laundering

6 Preventing fraud – proper management structures

Session objective: to review the place of proper corporate governance

  • Corporate governance
  • Company management structure
  • Audit committees
  • The place of internal audit

7 Preventing fraud – proper accounting

Session objective: to review best accounting and auditing practice

  • Accounting standards
  • Internal accounting policies
  • Adequacy of internal controls
  • Internal audit

8 Preventing fraud – regulation

Session objective: to look at how regulators aim to prevent fraud

  • The regulatory environment
  • Financial services regulation

9 Conclusion

  • Course review
  • Open forum
  • Close

10 Course summary – developing your own cost action plan

  • Group and individual action plans will be prepared with a view to participants identifying their cost risks areas and the techniques which can be immediately applied to improve costing and reduce costs

Any questions? Please just give us a call on 01582 463463 – we’re here to help!