Category Archives: News items

Budget on Track

| March 31, 2025

Keep budgets under control and meet financial targets Budget on Track is our service to support budget holders, managers, and financial decision makers in the public and non-profit sector. If controlling budgets is important for your organisation, it requires all budget holders at every level to meet their targets, whether that be savings, or just not overspending. Sometimes they will need help. Budget on track is more flexible than a training course, but more cost effective than a personal consultant. It provides bespoke answers to questions when they are needed. Subscribers to Budget on Track are able to email their personal budget mentor (PBM), who is there to support them. It can be any kind of budget, revenue or capital or income. Our subscribers can ask simple or more difficult questions and receive some assistance. It may be help with financial planning, budget setting, variance analysis, budgetary control, more for less, statistical analysis, management reports, or something else. We are experts in delivering financial training courses, but often participants have

Financial Management and Budgeting for the Public Sector

| March 5, 2024

This CPD course on budget setting, management and control will boost your budgeting skills and contribute to your ongoing professional development. For more details please contact us at info@hbpublications.com and we can send you a booking form or book online with https://www.eventbrite.com/e/budget-management-for-the-public-sector-cpd-course-tickets-39875319153

Robust Financial Management (RFM) for the Public Sector

| April 26, 2023

Robust Financial Management in the Public Sector (RFM) A necessity not a choice  What is robust financial management ? Firstly, we can define “robust” as follows: “Robustness is a characteristic describing a system’s ability to perform effectively while its variables or assumptions are altered. In general, a system is robust if it can handle variability and remain effective” (Investopedia) Public financial management refers to “the collection, management, and expenditure of public finances throughout an economy. The core objective of public financial management is to improve citizens’ lives through better management of public money.” (International Federation of Accounting) Combining these definitions, we can state that robust financial management in the public sector should be focusing on achieving the 4Es – Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Equity in the use of public funds. This is in line with New Public Management (NPM) theories. NPM seeks to improve public sector management generally, including increased flexibility and transparency. This can be a challenging objective when public funds are limited, and the demands are high. Therefore,

Financial Management Skills critical to control Public Sector Budgets

| October 23, 2022

Public Sector Budgets are facing the most serious challenges for decades. Now, more than ever, it is critical that organisations and individuals have the financial management critical to control Public Sector budgets and ensure effective budgetary control. Given the economic climate, we can anticipate more austerity, more savings needed, and delivering more for less. We can help with our courses, books, and online resources. Our virtual half day course provides all the basic underpinning knowledge for effective budgeting, monitoring and control. Also, the online courses cover a range of much needed core skills in finance for the public sector, along with online competency assessments. Managing the Devolved Budget is just one of the range of public sector management books. These are well known for being easy to read and full of useful information for day-to-day financial budgetary control and contain self-development activities. HB Publications and Training International continues to develop new, interesting and dynamic ways to enhance financial management skills in the public sector. Many of our courses have CPD

Basic Maths and Statistics

| November 19, 2020

This CPD course on budget setting, management and control will boost your budgeting skills and contribute to your ongoing professional development. For more details please contact us at info@hbpublications.com and we can send you a booking form or book online with https://www.eventbrite.com/e/budget-management-for-the-public-sector-cpd-course-tickets-39875319153

Fraud Awareness for the Public and Non Profit Sectors

| November 19, 2020

Half Day Online Live Course Being aware of the potential for fraud, and having knowledge of the bribery act, money laundering, fraud response plans etc. is extremely beneficial. It is relevant to all staff within an organisation and useful underpinning knowledge when applying for jobs or promotions. Great for interview preparation and enhancing CVs. All organisations need to ensure their staff have an awareness of fraud and the Bribery Act. Acquiring this knowledge is very useful and is transferable. We would recommend the course to individuals and organisations that may have several staff who need this knowledge. BOOK NOW Programme Content Definitions of fraud The fraud triangle Internal and external fraud Bribery Act Money Laundering Criminal Finances Act Fraud response plans Whistle blowing Consequences of fraud A Half Day Live Online course which may save money, reduce the potential for fraud, and meet the requirement of organisations to ensure all staff have this awareness. Everyone should undertake this training. This course will include: Case Studies and Exercises Trainer-led PowerPoint presentations

FINANCE TRAINING COURSES – WHAT’S ON?

| August 24, 2020

We specialise in finance training courses for the public and non profit sectors

The 5 Step Budgetary Control Process

| June 17, 2020

The 5 Step Budgetary Control Process To ensure effective budgetary control, budgets must be effectively monitored and managed. Although the difference between monitoring and managing budgets is not clearly defined, there are certain characteristics that set them apart. The two can be broadly distinguished as follows:   Monitoring budgets Managing budgets Checking accuracy of actual income and expenditure reported; comparing “actuals” with budgets; calculating variances; identifying trends; highlighting any variations to the budget owner Taking the necessary action, based on the monitoring results, to ensure the budget remains within control.   The budgetary control process ensures funds are being utilised in accordance with the required level and quality of output from the allocated resources. The process of controlling budgets can be broken down into several steps: Establishing actual position Comparing actual with budget Calculating variances Establishing reasons for variances Taking action to exert control Step 1 – Establish Actual Position All organisations have some form of an accounting system which records their income and expenditure. Depending on the system, budgets will

Become Interview Ready

| July 8, 2019

Become interview ready with our range of services. If you are looking for a job in the public sector or not for profit sector, it is important to prepare for interviews and have the right skill set on your CV. We offer assessments and learning materials for some of the essential and desirable skill areas needed. Assess your skills and depending on your level, you can improve them with the supporting learning resources. When you complete the assessment you will immediately receive a feedback report. Topics include: Basic Maths and Statistics; Budget Setting; Budget Management and Control; Fraud Awareness and Bribery Act; Financial Strategy; Financial Accounting Techniques; and Business Planning Our assessments have been used world wide to measure and improve skills. Individuals use them to enhance their job prospects and CVs, and to assist in becoming interview ready. Employers use them to ensure prospective staff have the level of competency required for the role. All assessments are £9.99 each and can be purchased from this website. They are also

Recruiting Finance Staff for the Public Sector

| June 21, 2019

  Recruiting finance staff for the public sector is our area of expertise. This cost effective service is ideal for recruiting finance staff at any level from officers to Director positions. We work with organisations in both the public and non profit sectors, including recruitment agencies. Our services include reviewing potential candidates CVs, designing interview questions, and if required participating in the recruitment panel. The service includes using our own online financial competency assessment system. This system can be tailored to meet the needs of specific job descriptions, for all levels of finance posts. Using our services can save money lost when recruiting the wrong person for the job. We are now offering a fixed fee cost effective service package which includes: Review of CVs to provide a first shortlist Objective assessment of core skills and knowledge, using our online system Bespoke competency assessment to match job description Shortlisting of candidates for interview after the assessment results Client summary identifying key questions to incorporate during the interview   Using experts