Fraud Prevention: A Guide for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Course Description Copyright Ross Maynard 2021 Course Description Business fraud is a significant, and growing problem. Hardly a day goes by without news reports of organisations being hacked or having their data hijacked. Phishing scams and ID theft are also serious threats to businesses. According to data produced by Accenture, 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small or medium sized organisations, but only 14% of those organisations are well protected. Around 60% of successful internet fraud cases are the result of phishing emails, and 30% of cases result from ID theft. These two approaches are increasingly being combined in business internet fraud. The aim of this course is to help managers in small or medium sized organisations understand the fraud risk that they face, and to take action to mitigate the risk. The course covers frauds risks, creating an anti-fraud culture and developing an fraud risk management strategy. The course comes with a fraud risk mini-audit and sample anti-fraud policies, and related policy documents. The best way to prevent fraud is to have clear anti-fraud policies and procedures which all staff understand, and which are rigorously enforced; coupled with an open, communicative environment, where staff feel safe and supported to question actions and raise concerns. To help your organisation put these elements in place, this course has five parts: Part 1: What is Fraud and Who Commits it? Part 2: Creating an Anti-Fraud Culture Part 3: Fraud Risk Management Part 4: Managing Bribery Risk Part 5: Appendices with sample anti-fraud policies, fraud response plans, a whistleblowing policy and anti-bribery policy. I hope you find the course helpful. Key Learning Points On completion of the course, delegates will be able to: Define meaning and nature of business fraud Appreciate the variable nature of people’s honesty and how that can tip into fraud Understand the personality types of people who commit business fraud Identify the elements of an anti-fraud culture Explain the steps required to guard against internet fraud Understand the elements of a fraud risk management strategy Outline the sanctions available for those committing fraud Develop an Anti-Fraud Policy, Fraud Response Plan, Whistleblowing Policy and Anti-Bribery Policy for their organisation Begin to audit the level of fraud risk and bribery risk in their organisation Curriculum Part 1: What is Fraud and Who Commits it? L1: What is Fraud? L2: The Variable Nature of Honesty Part 2: Creating an Anti-Fraud Culture L3: Creating an Anti-Fraud Culture L4: Internet Fraud and Cybercrime Part 3: Fraud Risk Management L5: The Fraud Risk Management Strategy Part 1 L6: The Fraud Risk Management Strategy Part 2 L7: Sanctions for Fraud L8: Tips to Help Prevent Fraud L9: The Fraud Risk Mini-Audit L10: Fraud Prevention Exercises Part 4: Managing Bribery Risk L11: The Bribery Act 2010 L12: The Bribery Risk Mini-Audit Part 5: Appendices Sample Anti-Fraud Policy 1 Sample Anti-Fraud Policy 2 Sample Fraud Response Plan 1 Sample Fraud Response Plan 2 Sample Whistleblowing Policy Sample Anti-Bribery Policy Pre-Course Requirements There are no pre-course requirements Additional Resources PDF copies of the following documents are provided with the course: Sample Anti-Fraud Policy 1 Sample Anti-Fraud Policy 2 Sample Fraud Response Plan 1 Sample Fraud Response Plan 2 Sample Whistleblowing Policy Sample Anti-Bribery Policy Sample Code of Ethics CIMA Fraud Risk Management Guide 2016 The Honesty Questionnaire The Fraud Risk Mini-Audit The Bribery Risk Mini Audit Course Tutor Your tutor is Ross Maynard. Ross is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the UK and has 30 years’ experience as a process improvement consultant specialising in business processes and organisation development. Ross is also a professional author of online training courses. Ross lives in Scotland with his wife, daughter and Cocker Spaniel
Tackle Stress Before It Tackles You! Work-related stress affects 875,000 people every year, and its impacts go beyond the workplace—affecting your mind, body, and personal life. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Join our Stress Management Workshops to: ✔️ Understand the difference between stress and pressure ✔️ Learn the causes of stress in and out of the workplace ✔️ Discover practical coping strategies and build mental resilience These workshops are packed with insights, tools, and strategies to help you take control of your stress levels and improve your well-being—personally and professionally. There are two different ones to choose from - a 2 hour workshop and a 4 hour workshop! Course Contents of 2 hour course: What is Stress Stress versus Pressure Statistics Absenteeism, Presenteeism and Leaveism Workplace Causes of Stress Personal Causes of Stress Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Stress Coping Strategies Mental Resilience Benefits of this Workshop: In 2022/23. 875,000 people suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety The affects of stress are far reaching, affecting one's mind, body, social and personal life Become more aware of what stresses you, what is does to you and find ways to reduce those stress levels
New Excel Functions Course Description Ross Maynard Description In the second half of 2020 Microsoft released a significant upgrade to the most used spreadsheet programme in the world. Microsoft Excel now offers the ability to handle dynamic arrays – functions that return a range of results that update as the source data changes. In this course, we discuss the power of dynamic arrays and introduce the new functions. The functions I am going to cover are: RANDARRAY- creating a table of random numbers or random dates UNIQUE – identifying the distinct items in a list SEQUENCE – listing numbers with a set interval SORT and SORTBY – new ways of dynamically sorting data FILTER – building the ability to filter data into formulae XLOOKUP – replacing VLOOKUP with greater flexibility IFS and SWITCH making it easier to construct IF statements The new CONCAT, and TEXTJOIN text functions If you have an earlier version of Microsoft Excel then these functions will not be available to you and this course might not be for you. But if you do have a subscription to Office365 – either personally or through your work – I think you will find this course extremely useful. Learning Outcomes Participants in this course will learn: What the new dynamic arrays feature in Microsoft Excel means How the new RANDARRAY function works How the new UNIQUE function works How the new SEQUENCE function works How the new SORT and SORTBY functions work How the new FILTER function works How the new XLOOKUP function can replace VLOOKUP How to build IF statements with the new IFS function How the new SWITCH function works How the new TEXTJOIN function can replace CONCATENATE and CONCAT How the new functions can be used in management reporting Course Requirements There are no pre-course requirements. Additional Resources Course Spreadsheet with the examples covered. About Ross Ross Maynard is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the UK. He is director of Ideas2Action Process Excellence Ltd and has 30 years’ experience as a process improvement consultant and facilitator. Ross is also a professional author of online training courses for accountants. Ross lives in Scotland with his wife, daughter and Cocker Spaniel
From Small Talk to Big Opportunities - your perfect introduction to business networking. Networking can be intimidating and a bit daunting if you’re new to it, but it doesn't have to be. In this online introduction to business networking course, you'll discover... The benefits of networking. We’ll help you to recognise networking opportunities that will suit you. Know how to prepare for an event. How to follow up. And best of all, we’ll help you to create your own elevator pitch with our Pitch Building Template. This is your perfect introduction to the world of business networking, ideal for beginners who want to increase their confidence and feel more empowered. We understand the power of a network. Our passion for networking and helping others succeed is truly contagious, and we can't wait to share our knowledge and expertise with you. The main goal of this taster session is to help you overcome any fears or hesitations you might have about networking. We’ll guide you through the ins and outs of networking, leaving you feeling more confident about attending your next event, whether online or Face to Face. Don't let your fears hold you back any longer – Join us for this interactive this taster session that will set you on the path to networking success! This course is for you if… You’ve very little networking experience and you want to know where to start. You experience anxiety about meeting new people for business. You’re not comfortable in networking events. You want to develop your business You want to further a career or get a promotion.
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, YA THRILLER Saskia Leach is a Junior Literary Agent at Kate Nash Literary Agency, where she has been working since 2021. She loves stories that features complex and dynamic characters and is fascinated by books containing document inserts or written from multiple perspectives. Saskia represents fiction for adults and young adults in the genres of crime, thriller, romance, historical/saga, horror, speculative and bookclub. She does not represent literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction, action/adventure thrillers, non-fiction, picture books or chapter books for children younger than middle grade. Saskia is particularly looking for LGBTQIA+ romance, high concept psychological thriller with a unique hook or set in an unusual location, and bookclub fiction revolving around a moral dilemma - but she is open to reading submissions in all genres she represents. She is keen to hear from writers from underrepresented voices and perspectives. Saskia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Saskia is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice given in your Agent121. The submission deadline is: Friday 5th September 2025 at 12 noon UK BST
This recording package is for individuals who did not attend the Rethinking Museums live event. If you attended online on 5 February and would like to upgrade your ticket to include a recording, please click here. Since the end of the pandemic, children, young people and families have faced a barrage of challenges to their standard of living, wellbeing, family life and place within society. Our conference will focus on how museums can become welcoming and accessible spaces that enable all children, young people and families to socialise, relax, play, work and learn. The three key themes of the conference are: Family Against the background of a slow post-Covid recovery and ingrained inequalities of access amongst museum audiences, we will share examples of museum programmes that have successfully welcomed children, young people and families who have historically been excluded. Often these new audiences have found a sense of safety and belonging in their local museums and become less isolated. Society In an increasingly polarised world where online disinformation proliferates, museums have a vital role in enabling people to build empathy and explore social justice issues. Work in this space helps museums remain relevant to younger audiences and helps them feel more optimistic about the future. Careers As the number of museum traineeships and apprenticeships are shrinking, so are the routes into a career in heritage. We’ll explore programmes that are opening up the museum workforce and enabling a wider group of young people to find meaningful work and build skills and confidence for future employment. You can read all about the conference and see the schedule on our website. About the recording The recording will include all of the conference sessions. You will receive the recordings approximately six weeks after the conference. You will be able to watch the recordings for six months from the date of the conference. All of the sessions will be captioned.
Motorsport is as much a business as it is a sport. Our new master’s programme will provide students with a broad range of modules which examine the national and international aspects of the industry from a commercial perspective. From governance, structure and international sports law, through to the importance and interdependence of commercial rights holders, promoters, manufacturer, teams, sponsors and the role played by the media, this course is aimed at enhancing the professional and career prospects of those with an aspiration of working within this exciting and challenging global industry. Our programme will help you to develop as professionals with a strong grounding in ethics and a clear sense of how motorsport relates to various cultures, stakeholders and the sectors it interacts with.
LOOKING FOR: PICTURE BOOKS, MG, YA, ADULT FICTION Clare Wallace joined the Darley Anderson Agency in January 2011 and is building both the Darley Anderson Children’s Agency and the Darley Anderson Illustration Agency lists as well as taking on adult fiction for debut authors. Clare is particularly looking for funny chapter books for younger readers at the moment, as well as contemporary MG, YA fantasy, romance, and rom coms, especially with underrepresented protagonists. For picture books she has the widest taste, from daft to lyrical, rhyming to prose. As well as being busy with the children’s and illustration agencies, Clare is open to debut adult fiction submissions that could be described as book club, rom-com, romance, saga, reading group, fantasy or historical fiction. She often doesn’t know what she’s looking for until she finds it (although she is not the person for steampunk or space opera). She represents picture books, middle-grade, teenage and YA and debut adult fiction. The clients Clare represents include Perdita & Honor Cargill, Caroline Crowe, Tom Ellen, Martyn Ford, Stewart Foster, Olivia Hope, A M Howell, Polly Ho-Yen, Rachel Ip, Beth Reekles, J.P. Rose, Lindsay Galvin, Dave Rudden, Deirdre Sullivan and Efua Traoré. Whatever the age range, Clare loves a big hook, a lot of heart, and a standout voice. She loves to discover memorable new characters, bold and unique voices, strong concepts and gripping storytelling. This list gives a good indication of Clare's taste but if your submission doesn’t fit a description here, it doesn’t mean Clare doesn’t want to receive it. Clare would like you to send a covering letter, a one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5000 words) of your manuscript in a single word document. For picture books, please submit a covering letter and up to three completed texts. Please send EITHER picture books OR another genre, not both in one submission. (In addition to the paid sessions, Clare is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Friday 5th September 2025 by 12 noon UK BST