Course Overview

Government accounting is a critical function as it deals with huge sums of money of taxpayers and other forms of collection. Given the expanse of the sector and the number of individuals handling financial data, the chances of fraudulent practices are very high. As such, officials need to be well informed of the possibilities of fraud and well prepared with the best methods to detect and prevent them. Fraud is committed by those under pressure, opportunity or rationalisation to commit the fraud.

Fraud in the government has an exponential impact on not just citizens and governance, but also on the overall economic development of the country. Some common signs of fraud include living beyond one’s own means, paying unusually close attention to certain clients/vendors, refusing to share responsibilities and duties with anyone, etc.

Many public sector organisations rely solely on external auditors to detect fraud, although typically an audit has been designed to check fair presentation of financial statements rather than detecting fraud. The government has had its share of employee embezzlement, theft, false expenses and misappropriation of money.

Among all types of fraud, fraudulent financial reporting is on the rise. Fraudulent financial reporting is the intentional misrepresentation of financial statements with the aim of earning profits and misleading recipients about operational performance and financial liability.

In the government, fraudulent financial reporting is usually committed to receiving funding for projects, financing terms and interest rates. There are various methods and signs to indicate fraud within the government. Government accounting fraud highly influences investor decisions to issue bonds and has a grave impact on taxpayers, citizens and civic employees.

Considering that all taxpayer money is at stake, the government needs to implement stringent systems and processes to help keep a check on financial information, transactions and operations to prevent fraud. Financial information handling for government accounting purposes is not completely digital and is subject to manual intervention.

This itself explains why detection and prevention against fraud, especially financial/accounting fraud, needs to be treated so seriously. Thus, awareness regarding government accounting and related possibilities of fraudulent practices is definitely critical.

This Zoe training course will empower you with a detailed understanding of government accounting, fraud in government accounting and detection and prevention of government accounting fraud. It will provide you with the necessary awareness to detect possibilities of fraudulent practices and devise preventive measures to minimise the impact such instances have on citizens and the economic growth of the nation.

The knowledge gained through this course will specialise you in the detection of fraud through various means and methods and enable you to play an important role in preventing fraud and taking necessary action to discourage recurrence. Further, by undertaking this course, you will be capable of suggesting and implementing new ways to manage fraud and prevent future instances that could drastically impact growth.

Course Objectives

The main objective of this course is to empower government professionals with—

• a detailed understanding and knowledge of fraud and fraudulent practices in government accounting
• the required awareness to keep a keen eye on operations and minute details of other business transactions to be able to detect possible instances of fraud occurrence and devise appropriate next steps to prevent the occurrence
• the required capabilities to work with advanced techniques and methods to detect and prevent fraud
• the knowledge and experience to be part of decision making and policy forming for handling fraud in government accounting
• the confidence to handle instances of fraud and implement disciplinary action and next steps in the event of such instances
• awareness and values to build a value-driven, ethical work culture discouraging illegal practices and unethical work conduct
• additional skill, confidence, experience and exposure to undertake higher roles and responsibilities, in turn helping them progress in their roles or across roles within the organisation

Training Methodology

Zoe Talent Solutions offers training courses across a wide range of topics in the most customisable form. The Fraud Detection, Investigation Audit and Corrective Action in Government Accounting course is customised as per the professional backgrounds and experience of the training audience. Besides lectures and presentations on the topic of discussion, the course includes group activities and role-plays among trainees to ensure participation and learning.

Further, the trainer discusses famous and recent case studies to foster relativity with some known reference. Trainees are also encouraged to share any relevant experiences that they have had in their roles or organisations, and these situations are discussed in detail.

This course, like all Zoe Talent Solutions’ courses, follows the Do–Review–Learn–Apply Model.

Organisational Benefits

With their employees undertaking this course, public sector organisations will benefit in the following ways:

• Trained and experienced employees to manage fraudulent instances and devise appropriate next steps
• Reduced instances and chances of fraud because of employees and management being more prepared and aware
• Prevention of fraud by predicting possible instances in advance and taking necessary steps in time
• Regular internal audits to keep a check on the handling of accounting data
• A more ethical, value-driven work environment as a result of discouragement of involvement in fraud because of evident strict disciplinary action
• Greater chances of private investments because of reduced risk of fraud
• Greater economic growth because of increased investments and better work culture

Personal Benefits

By undertaking this course, public sector professionals will benefit in the following ways:

• Increased understanding and knowledge about fraud and fraudulent practices in government accounting
• More awareness to predict or imply possible signs of fraud and higher skill to implement the next steps in line with these to prevent the occurrence
• Greater confidence and skill to work with advanced techniques and methods to detect and combat fraud in government accounting
• Increased skill, understanding and confidence to be part of regular internal audits and checks undertaken to ensure no fraud or fraudulent practices are being carried forth
• Increased confidence, experience and skill to successfully manage fraud in government accounting and ensure minimal or no loss to the organisation
• A value-driven, ethical work environment
• Increased understanding to help one’s organisation be corruption-free, with good economic growth
• Enhanced skill and perspective to undertake higher roles and responsibilities in one’s organisation, thus encouraging one’s growth and career development

Who Should Attend?

• Senior management members, Board members and directors of organisations responsible for critical decision making and fraud detection and prevention
• Human resource professionals responsible for inducing and driving a value-driven, ethical work culture
• Policymakers responsible for framing policies to combat fraudulent practices and take necessary action if such instances occur
• Financial advisors and officers responsible for ensuring that all financial assets are safe and all financial statements are presented in a fair manner
• Legal professionals responsible for checking and ensuring that all processes and operations are adhering to set standards of performance
• Internal and external auditors responsible for cross-checking coverage and adherence
• Accountants responsible for managing sensitive financial information
• Any other public sector professional or other vendors and service agents who would be interested to know about fraud and fraudulent practices

Course Outline

The course will cover the following topics important to understanding fraud detection in government accounting:

Module 1 – Overview of Fraud

• Definition of Government Accounting
• Definition of Fraud
• Types of Fraud

Module 2 – Objectives of Government Accounting

• Fulfil legal requirement
• Perform stewardship function
• Enable good planning by the government
• Provide the process for controlling financial resources
• Evaluate economy, efficiency and effectiveness of governance

Module 3 – Indicators of Fraud

• Financial results always on target
• Extraordinary/complex transactions
• Cash flows not meeting revenue growth
• Swings in assets and liabilities
• Unexpected changes in auditors
• Consistent sales growth

Module 4 – Types of Accounting Frauds

• Asset/Revenue over- or understatement
• Timing difference
• Fictitious revenues
• Concealed liabilities
• Improper disclosures
• Improper asset valuation

Module 5 – Causes of Fraud

• Pressure
• Opportunity
• Rationalisation

Module 6 – Ways of Fraud Prevention

• Segregate duties
• Monitor controls
• Encourage the culture of ethics and accountability
• Encourage annual external examination of financial statements
• Devise a strong control system
• Spread awareness

Module 7 – Fraud Detection Methods

• Regression
• Decision tree
• Neural network
• Bayesian networks
• Supported vehicle machines

Module 8 – Fraud Detection of Financial Statements

• Vertical financial statement analysis
• Horizontal financial statement analysis
• Comparative ratio analysis

Module 9 – Types of Government Accounting Records

• Treasury cash books
• Imprest cash books
• Payment voucher
• Adjustment voucher

Module 10 – Processes of Government Accounting

• Recording
• Analysing
• Classifying
• Summarising
• Communicating
• Interpreting

General Notes