Procurement, Finance & Fraud

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5 Tips to Counter Fraud in the Public Sector

Being able to identify and eliminate fraud, even in a non-fraud public sector role, is vital to ensure the safety and efficiency of your organisation. Heres some tips you can use to protect yourself and your organisation.

Know Who You’re Dealing With – scammers can pose as people you may know, If you do suspect that a scammer is posing as someone you know, it’s better to err on the side of caution and check with the person making the request and confirm their identity via other means, such as a phone call or correspondence with someone who knows them, such as their manager.

Communicate With Your Anti-fraud, IT or Senior Leadership Team – Although you may feel confident in taking matters into your own hands, it’s equally important to communicate with your anti-fraud, IT or senior leadership team when it comes to suspected cases of fraud. They can offer you advice on the best course of action to take if you are a suspected victim or are suspicious of something that may be a fraud

Conduct a Comprehensive Fraud Risk Assessment – A fraud risk assessment aims to identify and understand your organisation’s vulnerability to both internal and external fraud. This can range from reviewing and updating your security systems to looking at the processes involved in an organisation’s expenditure, how they spend money and what employees have access to.

Act Quickly if You Do Become a Victim of Fraud – In the event you are a victim of fraud, acting quickly is the best way to protect yourself and your organisation. Changing all your passwords is a good first step, even if you think a scammer may only have access to certain accounts they may also be able to figure out other information with that access.

Complete Training to Be More Effective at Identifying and Countering Fraud – If your organisation has minimal capability at countering and identifying fraud, completing training can be a good way to learn some of the expertise around identifying fraud, countering fraud and keeping employees safe.

Procurement, Finance & Fraud

Effective Financial Reporting for the Public Sector

Gain a Comprehensive Practical Understanding to Producing Financial Reports

Procurement, Finance & Fraud

Successful Specification Writing

Effectively Attract the Right Suppliers

What is Social Value?

Social value refers to the benefits organisations and social enterprises provide to both society and the economy. Over the last few years, there has been an increased demand to measure and maximise it, with many organisations seeking to understand and communicate the positive social values they are creating in an attempt to attain economical, environmental and social benefits.

Why are Public Sector Contracts so Important?

The entire procurement process starts with a need. Whether that’s a need for goods to be provided, work or services, public sector organisations need the right supplier to fill this need. This is where contracts come in. Also known as a ‘tender,’ a contract is an arrangement between a public sector organisation and a supplier to provide goods, work or services.

Demonstrating Return on Interest

Within the procurement, finance and fraud landscape being able to demonstrate Return on Investment (ROI) is key to showcasing to stakeholders, managers or employees the positive impact investments are making on services, strategy and performance.

How to Calculate or Measure ROI?

Calculating ROI is dependent on the type of metrics you are looking for, but the most common formula for ROI is:

ROI = (Net profit / Cost of investment) x 100

What’s Classed as Successful or Positive ROI?

As a simple definition, a good or positive return on investment is when your investment value into a project or campaign exceeds your expenses. For example, if your organisation invests £5,000 into a new project and generates £7,000, this is positive ROI as you’ve made more than you spent.

What Are the Benefits of Demonstrating ROI in the Public Sector?

Help you improve your strategy
Gain buy-in from key stakeholders
Understand division or team performance in your organisation
Simple yet impactful for all
Justify or defend budgets

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Procurement Finance & Fraud

Eliminate Public Sector Fraud: 5 Tips to Counter Fraud in the Public Sector

Procurement Finance & Fraud

A Procurement Professional’s Guide to Building Sustainable Procurement, the Incoming Procurement Bill and Managing Future Contracts

What Can the Public Sector do to Prepare for the Upcoming Procurement Bill 2023?

With the upcoming Procurement Bill 2023 nearing the final stages, its important that public sector organisations take into consideration the impact that new changes may bring. The government has released guidance on four areas where early consideration and action can best help organisation prepare for the changes:

Processes and policies – make sure your current processes and procedures are robust on areas such as pre-market engagement and supplier evaluation/assessment.
Systems – Familiarise yourself with the document ‘Transforming Public Procurement – Our Transparency Ambition’ which outlines the government proposals to improve transparency of UK public contracts and spending.
People – consider the procurement and contract management capability across your organisation, and consider benchmarking your organisation against relevant commercial and procurement operating standards and other comparable organisations.
Transition – ensure contract registers and details are up to date, conduct a review of pipelines to identify planned procurement activity over the next 18 months and engage with your key supply chain about the new regime.