April 2011 Session

Our guest speaker on 27th of April will be Brett Warfield, Partner at Warfield & Associates.

Brett Warfield,  is a Forensic Accountant and Financial Crimes Investigator.  He has more than 23 years Forensic Accounting experience including seven years in senior management with KPMG Forensic in Australia.  Brett has investigated police corruption as part of the financial investigation team at the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service.  He had four years investigating corruption in the NSW Building Industry and was part of the NSW ICAC's inaugural year of operation.

He has vast experience providing advice on the prevention and detection of fraud.  He has headed the investigations into a large number of fraud and corruption cases across Australia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Brett has been a frequent commentator on topical public issues over the years on ABC Radio and Television, SBS Television and in articles in the Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, Australian Financial Review, Daily Telegraph, CFO, Business Review Weekly and Charter Magazine.

Warfield & Associates recently released its second study into the link between gambling and fraud.

Brett has the following qualifications - Bachelor of Commerce, Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment, MBA (Exec), Graduate Certificate in Fraud Investigation and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance.

Brett's presentation will provide insights into the types of frauds that are currently occurring in Australian businesses and will include:
§  a review of the extent and impact of fraud in Australia;

§  the impact of fraud at both the organisational level and the individual level;

§  a review of recent examples of fraud investigated over recent years highlighting the internal control weaknesses and failures that allowed each fraud to occur, the way in which each fraud was detected and how the organisation responded;

§  the pre-conditions for fraud to occur and ways of eliminating those pre-conditions;

§  an introduction to strategies for preventing fraud; and

§  an introduction to strategies for detecting fraud.

 "I am happy to talk about any aspects of fraud.  So just let me know what the members want to hear about," Brett says. 

Many Thanks to Peter Adam

Feedback

Peter Adam, Head of Tax for Bell Partners, delivered a very informative presentation on FBT and Salary Packaging Update on this Tueseday night. We have received some excelletn feedbacks from our members:

""Peter did a really good presentation. I will give an overall 5 points out of 5."

"Last night’s presentation was fantastic. I found that the topic is very useful..."

Presentation Notes/Slides

The presentation notes were sent out to the members as requested and will be archived and won't be available from 6th of April 2011.

Past Presentation notes

All past presentation notes have been archived and is no longer available.

March 2011 Session

Peter Adam will join us as guest speaker on 29th of March 2011. He will present "Fringe Benefit Tax Update and Salary Packaging". You might know him if you attended FBT Essentials Workshop at CPA Centre before.

Peter has more than 20 years experience as a tax professional. He has worked in senior tax roles in both the profession and commerce having started his career with KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers before moving on to become Head of Tax for BNP-Paribas (Australia and New Zealand) and subsequently Chase Manhattan-Ord Minnett. Peter has also worked as a senior tax writer with CCH Australia. Throughout his career Peter has always had an interest in tax training and was a senior tax trainer with initially the Institute of Chartered Accountants and then WebbMartin-Kaplan where he conducted tax seminars for professional accountants throughout Australia. Peter has recently joined Bell Partners as Head of Tax. In his current role  Peter continues to provide tax training for professional accountants across Australia of the highest calibre and is regularly asked to present for professional associations at conferences and other events.

Please let me know if any particular area you would like him to cover.


 

Happy International Women's Day

Tuesday 8 March is International Women’s Day, 100^th Anniversary! I received several emails regarding celebrating its event. It makes me reflect on how important are the roles played by women in our family, community and society. Not only the roles of the women on top/leader are important, but also the roles fulfilled by ordinary females including mothers. We all should be proud to be ourselves.

The statistics by CPA Australia mentioned that more women choose to be CPAs now than 10 years ago. Click here for more details.

Advance to Fellow CPA

Some members are seeking the information on how to become an Fellow CPA (FCPA). I have been advanced to FCPA status since January and am happy to share some information with you. The minimum requirements are:

• 15 years full-time work experience in accounting and/or finance and/or business
• 5 years experience in a responsible executive role or 5 years experience in full-time public practice as a public accountant.

If you meet those requirement, then complete your application form and submit it with your CV, Workplace testimonials and Organizational Chart. Then sit back and wait. You will know the outcome within couple weeks from CPA Australia. Click here for more details.

What a Great Night!

CPA Women in Business Discussion Group had the first meeting on the 22nd of February, 2011.  Over 60 members attended the meeting. Dr Alicia Fortinberry delivered a great presentation on "Speak up, Step up: Empowerment and Relationship Building Skills" on that night. We left with very powerful tools to create a very supportive network. Many positive feedbacks on this event have been received. Some photos are uploaded as requested.

Networking



Chairing the meeting

 

Group Discussion



This year we will have panel discussion. Members will be given opportunities to develop public speaking skills through chairing the meeting or delivering a short presentation on a selected topic. Please contact me if you are ready for the challenge.

February 2011 Session

:Speak Up and Step Up: Empowerment and Relationship Building Skills
A powerful and practical session with internationally recognised author and business consultant Dr Alicia Fortinberry.

Through fun, interactive exercises and her lively and passionate delivery style, Alicia will enable you to communicate with greater impact and influence, demonstrate your authentic authority and build a truly supportive network. You will leave with powerful tools you can use the next day as well as deeper connections to your women’s group colleagues.