Whether you are a seasoned executive or a staff professional, we all have seen the damage from a crisis and 'unexpected' trouble. Ignoring potential issues is inane in today's environment. Leaders prevent problems. We will discuss how to prepare for and deal with a crisis, proven strategies to detect scams, and how to thoroughly investigate fraud: There is a right way and a wrong way. Additionally, what is artificial intelligence, how will it change the finance function, and what new skills must we develop? Trouble is everywhere, it is best to plan in advance rather than attempt to not fall further behind. Those who are prepared are always more successful. Prepare with us!
Learning Objectives
- Identify potential threats and conduct rapid risk assessments. Develop a comprehensive crisis management plan tailored to your organization. Implement effective communication strategies during a crisis and before. Create a business continuity plan with essential recovery strategies. Lead your organization confidently through crises and make informed decisions under pressure.
- Identify key fraud indicators and red flags within organizational processes. Implement strategies to establish a strong anti-fraud culture. How are culture and fraud connected? Enhance awareness of fraud risks and prevention techniques. Learn the tools to evaluate and improve internal controls for proactive fraud management.
- Understand the proper process to conduct an internal investigation. What are some of the risks, legal issues, and pitfalls?
- Recognize and accept that AI and ML are important new technologies that will impact nearly every organization. Understand the risks, advantages, and the issues of deploying AI and ML. Better understand how to optimize the effectiveness of AI and ML.
Major Topics
- The need for crisis management and business continuity plans
- Risk assessment and identification
- How to develop a crisis management framework
- Crisis communication strategies
- Business continuity planning essentials
- Keys to crisis leadership and decision making in a crisis
- Understanding fraud
- Definitions and types
- How are frauds caught?
- Where, how, and when to look
- Common red flags
- How to reduce your fraud risks
- What is an investigation and when is it warranted?
- How to prepare for an investigation
- Who should conduct it and defining the boundaries
- When to outsource vs. conduct the investigation internally
- Evidence collection and preservation
- The paper and data trail
- Witness statements
- Employee rights during investigations
- Investigative techniques (data analytics, surveillance, interviews)
- Reporting results
- When to take the next step – the legal process
- Explain AI and ML and describe potential finance-related applications for both.
- Demonstrate the growth of AI.
- Discuss practical applications and risks for AI and ML, specific for accounting and finance.
- Bookmark and share examples of ethical policies to help mitigate these risks.
- Demonstrate prompt engineering tips to yield desired responses from Generative AI tools like Chat GPT, Gemini, Perplexity AI, and Microsoft Copilot.
