E-learning

This course looks at the Bribery Act 2010 and the key elements of the legislative changes. It covers compliance issues, fraud and corruption prevention and what this means for procurement. 

Intended Audience  

This course may be relevant to many people in a university, but is particularly relevant to procurement staff. 

Topics covered  

• Overview of Potential Corrupt Practices in Procurement 
• The Mechanisms of the Bribery Act 2010 
• Bribery Act 2010 Compliance Issues 
• Fraud and Corruption Prevention ‘Best Practices’ 
• Anti-Fraud Policies and Procedures 
• UK Enforcement Landscape 
• Recap for Procurement 

This free course aims to increase the understanding of fraud amongst university staff. It will help you understand what fraud is, and what you can do about it.

Intended Audience

It is aimed at anybody working in universities in any role at all. Anybody can commit fraud, and everyone can help identify and reduce the risk of it.

Objectives

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand what fraud is
• How big a problem it is
• What fraud might look like in a university
• Who might commit fraud
• What bribery is
• What you can do to reduce fraud and bribery in your institution

This session will help you understand what the Criminal Finances Act 2017 is, and how it impacts universities. It also shows you what you need to do to protect yourself, and support your HEI.

Intended Audience

It is aimed at anybody working in universities in any role at all. Everyone in an institution can be impacted by the CFA, and everyone can help reduce the risk their institution because of it.

Objectives

By the end of this course, you will learn:

• What the Criminal Finances Act 2017 is
• Why it was introduced, and how it works
• What your university is doing
• What you can do to help your institution

This session will help you understand what Modern Slavery is and how it might impact your institution.

Intended Audience

This course is aimed at non specialists - anybody working in universities in any role at all. Everyone in an institution can help eliminate modern slavery by understanding more about what it is, and what to look out for.

Objectives

By the end of this course, you will learn:

• What Modern Slavery is
• The legislative framework
• The different types of Modern Slavery
• Who can be affected by it
• What the signs of Modern Slavery might be
• What you can do about it

This course aims to increase understanding of money laundering regulations, how to spot money laundering red flags in a university and what you should do.

Intended Audience

This course is aimed at all staff in a university who need to understand what money laundering is, the risks to the university, and how these risks can be mitigated.

Objectives

By the end of this course, you should:

• Be aware of the money laundering and the relevant regulations.
• Be able to explain who Politically Exposed Persons (P E Ps) are.
• Be aware of International Sanctions.
• Know what to do if you have a suspicion.
• Recognise higher education specific red flags and mitigations.
• Be able to explain the consequences of getting it wrong (money laundering offences).

This course will introduce the basics of business partnering.  It includes what business partnering is and how to prepare for it.  The course then identifies some of the basic skills for effective business partnering.  It is an introduction level course.     

Intended audience:

• New Business Partners
• Aspiring Business Partners
• Management Accountants who want to develop a more partnership approach. 
• Existing Business Partners who wish to have a refresh

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Understand what we mean by business partnering
• How to prepare for business partnering
• Know the 3 building blocks for successful business partnering
• Know how to develop the partnership skill of ‘contracting’
• What is business partnering?
• How to prepare for business partnering

This course is designed to help business partners add more value to their organisation through the departments they support.

Intended audience:

• Business Partners

Objectives:

By the end of the course you should be able to:

• Identify what the ‘strategic’ role of the business partner means in practice.
• Engage others in the value of your role and get involved in decisions earlier.
• Build your effectiveness by using tools and tips from a consulting framework.
• Plan ways of being more proactive to add even more value.
• Enable your stakeholders to work in partnership with you.
• Demonstrate the additional value you have added.

This course helps to build the following skills: Influencing, negotiation, and assertiveness.

Intended audience

This course is for business partners who want to build these skills (though others wishing to build these skills may also find it useful).

Objectives

The course will help you to:

• Build your skills and confidence in assertiveness and negotiating.
• Challenge and deliver difficult messages.
• Use your judgement.
• Create compelling cases for change.
• Manage yourself.
• Tailor your message to individuals’ preferences.

This course provides an overview of how university finances operate, as well as demystifying some of the more complex areas and concepts. 

Intended Audience 

It is suitable for anyone in any role across a university, who may benefit from understanding more about how finances work in a university, and how they are reported. 

Objectives 

By the end of this course you will understand: 

• What BUFDG is and how to access finance support and resources 
• Where a university's money comes from 
• How a university spends its money 
• How a university ensures its money is spent wisely, and who is responsible 
• How universities report on their finances, and how to understand these reports 

This course will introduce the role of the Finance function in HE, what Finance do and why.  The course will explore financial rules and regulations, financial reporting standards and financial sustainability.  The module then moves on to financial information in HE, starting with the annual finance cycle, then to onto to financial statements and internal financial management.

Intended audience:

• Non-finance staff with no, or very little knowledge on:
  • The role of the Finance function
  • HE financial information
  • Financial terminology

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Understand what the Finance function does and why
• Understand more about the financial rules and regulations universities must adhere too
• Know what financial reporting standards are
• Understand financial sustainability
• Identify key dates in the annual finance cycle
• Understand university financial statements and the terminology within them
• Understand internal financial management processes and the role everyone has in maintaining them

This module is aimed at anyone who needs to prepare a business case or who will be involved in reviewing or assessing business cases. It provides an introduction to the topic for those with little or no experience of preparing a business case. While it includes an overview of the financial elements of a business case, it does not assume any financial expertise. 

Intended audience: 

• Non-finance staff who need support on writing a business case 
• Finance staff who wish to know more about reviewing or assessing a business case 
• Business Partners supporting any staff who are creating a business case 

Objectives: 

By the end of the course participants should be able to: 

• Recognise when you might need to prepare a business case 
• Explain the fundamental elements a business case should include 
• Communicate the benefits of a proposed project 
• Convince readers that a project will succeed 
• Write a business case document 
• Communicate effectively with your target audience 

Intended audience: 

• University finance staff involved in the preparation, compilation, validation and approval of TRAC data
• Senior staff new to TRAC 
• Senior staff becoming involved in TRAC oversight groups or institutional committees with oversight of TRAC 

Objectives: 

By the end of the course participants should be able to: 

• Understand what TRAC is and the main purpose of TRAC 
• Identify the main terminology associated with TRAC 
• Explain the key elements of the TRAC process and the relevant documentation 
• Know how TRAC data is utilised 
• Seek further guidance from the given resources if required 

Topics covered: 

• What is TRAC? 
• The TRAC returns 
• The TRAC process 
• Governance of TRAC 
• Using and interpreting the TRAC outputs 

This course will be helpful to those responsible for dealing with financial transactions in universities, such as budgeting, purchasing or generating income. It provides an overview of how VAT applies specifically in the higher education sector but is not intended to be a fully comprehensive guide. 

Intended audience:

• Administrative and finance staff based in academic departments who are not VAT experts but have to deal with VAT as part of their role e.g. departmental administrators dealing with budgeting, finance staff raising POs and coding invoices etc.
• Academic staff who need to consider VAT and budgeting as part of their role e.g. budgeting for research grant applications, raising POs etc.
• Central finance staff who are not VAT experts but have to deal with VAT on transactions, such as Accounts Receivable staff raising invoices, and Accounts Payable staff processing invoices

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Explain what VAT is and when it is charged
• Identify the VAT treatment of common forms of income
• Identify when they should expect to see VAT on purchases and when they should be able to claim relief from VAT
• Explain when VAT incurred on purchases will need to be included in their budgets
• Identify how VAT should apply to purchases made from overseas suppliers

This module looks at how university/higher education research is funded, some of the important concepts to understand, as well as the different elements of the research award cycle.

Intended audience:

• University finance staff who need to understand more about research
• Any staff member new to an HE Research Team

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Understand the different definitions of research
• Explain the Frascati Manual definition of research
• Explain what is excluded from research
• Recognise different sources of research funding
• Understand the different elements of the research award cycle
• Recognise the importance of VAT treatment in research costing

Topics covered:

• Basic and applied research
• Is it research?
• The Frascati manual
• Exclusions from research
• The research award cycle
• Research and VAT implications

This course will introduce the role of Credit Control in HE.  The Credit Control function is particularly unique in HE and this module will take members through some of the key aspects, including the difference between consumer (student) credit control and commercial credit control. The module will include how student costs are collected, the variances and challenges that can occur throughout the process.

Intended audience:

• Staff new to Credit Control in HE
• Staff who don’t work in Credit Control who would like to understand more about credit control in HE

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Understand how consumer credit control in HE is different to commercial credit control
• Identify how income from student loans, tuition fees and accommodation costs is managed
• Know how payments are managed including student payment plans, sanctions and debt collection agencies
• Understand any challenges
• The difference between commercial and consumer credit control in HE
• How tuition fees are funded and how they are collected, including student loans and student maintenance loans
• How student accommodation costs are managed
• International students
• Working with students including:
  • The payment / instalment plan
  • Why a student might not pay
  • Working with Student Support
• Working with sanctions and debt collection agencies
• A look at fraud and GDPR in credit control

Topics covered:

• The difference between commercial and consumer credit control in HE
• How tuition fees are funded and how they are collected, including student loans and student maintenance loans
• How student accommodation costs are managed
• International students
• Working with students including:
  • The payment / instalment plan
  • Why a student might not pay
  • Working with Student Support
• Working with sanctions and debt collection agencies
• A look at fraud and GDPR in credit control

This course sets out some of the basic concepts of pensions in the H E sector, including providing information on the main schemes in the sector.

Intended audience:

The course is aimed at:

• Anyone who needs a broad understanding of pensions in the H E sector.
• Anyone who needs a high level introduction to pensions in the H E sector, before obtaining more detailed information elsewhere (e.g. the BUFDG Guide to Accounting for Pensions in the H E Sector).

Objectives:

When you have completed the course you should be able to:

• Explain the difference between public and private pensions, and between defined benefit and defined contribution schemes;
• Name pension schemes commonly used in the H E Sector;
• Understand hoe the cost of a pension could be calculated; and
• Be familiar with the terminology used in relation to pensions in the H E Sector.

Topics covered:

• Sources of pensions
• Public pensions
• Private pensions
• Funded Defined Benefit Schemes
• How much pension?
• How much will it cost?
• Which type of scheme is best?
• Pension schemes in the H E Sector

This course gives a high level overview of higher education procurement. It is broken down into smaller modules looking at effective procurement, the processes, competition issues, useful tools and how to think strategically.

Intended Audience

The course will be useful to anyone new to procurement in a higher education setting, as well as anyone wishing to refresh their knowledge in this area.

The course will cover:

• The importance of effective procurement
• The procurement process and the spectrum of activities in H E
• Managing competition issues
• Support mechanisms and tools
• The impact of strategic procurement

This course aims to provide a high-level overview of sustainable procurement in the HE sector. It looks at what sustainable procurement means, what drives its adoption in HE, and how your various procurement functions and processes might change as a result.

Intended Audience

This course is aimed at anyone working in procurement in HE, or in a different role but with some responsibility for either procurement or sustainability.

Objectives

• By the end of this course you will understand:
• What sustainable procurement means for HE
• What the five drivers of sustainable procurement are
• Sustainability changes that can be made to Specifications, Internal Reporting, and Whole life costing among other areas.

This course covers the basic rules and considerations for the import of goods into the UK whether those goods are purchased, loaned, donated or sent free of charge.

Intended Audience

It is designed for anyone who deals with imports and obtaining goods from overseas. While quite detailed, it is aimed at non-tax specialists, so there is no need to have an in-depth knowledge of tax. The content was written by The Customs People for BUFDG.

This course is aimed at anyone within a university who needs to purchase a product or service.  The course covers what a specification is and why a good specification is important.  It will also take you through how to write a good specification including the different types of specification you may require.  This course will supplement internal guidance.

Intended audience:

• Anyone who needs to purchase a product or service
• Procurement team members who want to share guidance with university staff.

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Understand what a specification is
• Identify why a good specification is important
• Write a good specification
• What do we mean by a specification?
• Why is a good specification important?
• How to write a good specification:
  • Identifying your stakeholders
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Exploring the types of specification (functional, performance and technical)