Good Presentation on "Fraud"

Brett Warfield delivered a very good presentation on “Fraud” to our group on 27^th of April 2011. Most members were captivated by his vast experience and knowledge on the prevention and detection of fraud that were shared. We would like to have him back in the future on exploring this area further.

NSW TAFE - Associate Degree of Accounting Focus Sessions - Need your help

This is a message from NSW CPA Centre. They are looking for help in participating in a project. A few group members including Amy, Ellie and Lisa have put their hands up. There are more places for this Thurseday and Friday to fill.

"TAFE NSW Higher Education with the valued input of CPA Australia and universities are developing a unique tertiary pathway to an accounting career through an Associate Degree of Accounting that allows graduates to transfer to year three of a Bachelor Degree at one of our partner universities.  The program will use innovative delivery and assessment approaches to prepare graduates for work as well as for further study at university.

The program aims to improve graduates’ knowledge and abilities to meet the needs of employers. This will be achieved through strong industry engagement throughout the development and delivery of the program.   At this stage of development, we are seeking your input regarding the required knowledge, skill and other attributes of accounting employees and your thoughts on future directions for the profession.

We invite you to attend one of the lunch time focus group at either the CPA Australia office or the TAFE Ultimo campus on the following dates:

• Thursday 14 April - 12.30pm - 1.15pm at TAFE Ultimo campus

• Friday 15 April - 12.30pm - 1.15pm at at CPA Australia office

The group will consist of around ten accounting professionals and relevant other professionals who will have the opportunity to share and exchange thoughts about the needs of the profession going forward.  A light lunch will be provided.

Your input into the design of this program is highly valued and we hope you will be able to attend.

In participating in this focus group you understand that CPA Australia may make and you consent to the recording of your likeness and/or voice, by any means (including but not limited to audio or visual recordings by cameras and photographers) and that CPA Australia may use these recordings for any purpose.

RSVP:   to Jess at jessica.hartley-lichtenstein@cpaaustralia.com.au"

Join us in supporting this project!

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.