Free training courses available for staff involved in Finance and Procurement.

Did you know that as a University of Edinburgh staff member involved in Finance or Procurement, you have access to BUFDG  information resources on training, financial news and all the latest reports and developments in HE finance? 

The British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) is the representative body for higher education finance staff in the United Kingdom. BUFDG have recently released a number of training courses which can be access via their elearning website.

The courses are completely free. To access the training courses, all you need to do is register for an account, which you can do on their website:

BUFDG eLearning Website

Here is a summary of the training courses and resources available:

1. Introduction to HE Finance - a high level overview of higher education finance. It is broken down into smaller modules looking at BUFDG, the HE sector, where HE money comes from, how it is spent, governance and reporting.

2. Introduction to Counter-Fraud - The BUFDG Counter-Fraud Working Group have produced a free, introductory Fraud-Awareness e-learning module, for use in universities. The module takes about 30 minutes to complete. It covers topics such as; what is fraud, what is bribery, who might commit fraud and what can universities do about it.

3. Criminal Finances Act 2017 - designed to help you understand what the Criminal Finances Act 2017 is, how it impacts universities and what you need to do to protect yourself, and support your HEI. This module should take about 20 minutes.

4. Introduction to HE Procurement - a high level overview of higher education procurement. It is broken down into smaller modules looking at the importance of effective procurement, the processes, competition issues and strategic issues.

5. Protecting Human Rights in the Supply Chain - looks at the human rights issues faced by organisations and in particular in the supply chain. There are a series of detailed topics and a couple of quizzes to test your learning.

6. The Bribery Act - we look at the Bribery Act 2010 and the key elements of the legislative changes. It covers compliance issues, fraud and corruption prevention and what this means for procurement.

7. Supplier Due Diligence and Risk Management - procurement ethics, commercial risk management and engaging with key stakeholders.

8. Spend Analysis - teaches you the why, what and how of spend analysis. You will learn about key tools, techniques and how to present to internal stakeholders.

9. Cost Modelling - looks at cost models, the different types of approaches and the value chain.

10. Introduction to Sustainable Procurement - an introduction to sustainability in the world of procurement. It looks at the three pillars of sustainability, legislation requirements and what you can be doing differently in your institution.