Understanding Financial Information (Training) | In-Person Training Event

03 July 2024

09:45–13:00

IPA Headquarters

** BOOKED OUT **

Booking for this event has now closed

Public bodies and public benefit entities are recipients of public money to fund the provision of services and functions, and this comes with particular responsibilities and obligations. Modern public organisations should have strong and effective financial management, financial controls and financial reporting processes, which provide, inter alia, for timely information flows internally and to key stakeholders, and timely reporting on the financial year (through the financial statements) with accompanying assurance statements.

The objective of this engaging and interactive in-person training event is to enhance participants' understanding of good financial management, including key processes, reporting, and information. It is designed to provide individuals in key governing positions with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively carry out their roles. This will be particularly useful to Board/Committee members and senior executives and officials who do not have a formal financial background, but will also be useful as a refresher session and for those with a financial background but who are new to the public sector system.

The areas to be addressed in the session will include:

Public money: obligations, assurances and accountability
Planning for the year: budgeting, grant allocation, assumptions
Financial reporting during the year: management accounts, variance analysis and reporting
Reporting on the financial year: the annual financial statements, key content and requirements, the statement on internal control
Key financial controls and areas to watch for
Organisations and financial (system) maturity

This will be an interactive session, supported by a slide deck but also using practical case study examples.

The training will be delivered by Majella Malone, Finance Specialist IPA and Dermot Byrne, Senior Associate IPA.

Speakers

Majella Malone

Majella is a Finance Training Specialist at the Institute of Public Administration and is a member of the IPA Governance and Finance Team. Majella delivers a range of services to public and state bodies and not-for-profit entities in the areas of finance, financial management, audit and risk. She is an experienced finance and accounting trainer and lecturer, and leads on the IPA's Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting and the Certificate in Audit Skills. Prior to joining the IPA, she was a Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at Dublin Business School.

Dermot Byrne

Dermot Byrne is a Senior IPA Associate and an expert in audit, internals controls, risk and corporate governance. He retired in 2023 as Head of the Internal and EU Audit Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The Unit is the designated Audit Authority in Ireland for the European Regional Development Fund as well as providing the internal audit service to DPER and to the Department of Finance.

Dermot is currently a Committee member on the Ireland Region Committee of the Chartered Institute of Internal Audit. He is Chair of the Audit Committee at Galway City Council and has served as chair and member of several other public and state sector Audit and Risk Committees.