Managing Public Money (FutureLearn)

You’ll discover how there is more to public finance than taxes, understand where public money comes from, and examine how and why it gets spent.

What topics will you cover?

- The differences between financial management in the public and private sectors.

- The basics of taxation, including different types of taxes and their features.

- Different approaches to budgeting and their strengths and weaknesses.

- The key internal controls for managing the finances of any organisation.

- The prevention of fraud and corruption.

- The five Es of value for money: effectiveness, economy, efficiency, equity, ethics.

- How to put a value on the costs and benefits of public services.

- The importance of accountability and transparency in the management of public money.

- The role of external and internal auditors and what an audit opinion means.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

- Apply and understand the purpose of public financial management.

- Evaluate and understand budgets in the public sector.

- Demonstrate and understand incremental budgeting and zero-based budgeting.

- Explain and appreciate the important of value for money and ways in which public spending is managed.

- Assess and understand accountability mechanisms and the role of auditors in the public sector.