Efficient Budgeting and Operational Cost Management

Introduction:

There is adaptability in cutthroat business financial management that comes through efficient budgetary control and cost management, ensuring that an organization remains competitive while securing returns on investments. This course on Efficient Budgeting and Operational Cost Management to help finance and budget managers practice quantitative management of operational costs while aligning budgetary processes with the organization’s strategic aims.

This course guides participants through the various stages of budget planning in an integrated manner, combining practical and theoretical learning. It stands out as a premier program in budgeting and financial management, emphasizing the ease of controlling budgets and managing costs incurred in organizational activities.

Objectives:

Participants who complete the Efficient Budgeting and Operational Cost Management course will gain a comprehensive understanding of the following:

• Budgeting and cost control processes – incorporating organizational strategic management planning.
• Administrative/management capabilities relevant for project management, project evaluation, and planning processes.
• The relationship between traditional budgetary systems—long-term forecasting and incrementalism—and more dynamic, modern approaches.
• Activity-based budgeting (ABM and ABC).
• Decision-making and meticulous techniques of capital budgeting and cash flow management.
• Essential business metrics, indicators relevant to the company, and how and when to monitor them.
• Budgetary control issues, shortcomings, and exploring effective substitutes.
• Application of financial and non-financial measures to project management.
• Budgets and performance measurement as communication tools.
• Quality management aspects of budgetary processes and their application to business process re-engineering.
• Project management skills.
• Integrating planning, budgeting, and cost management with a financial-oriented method.
• Handling different categories of costs and their relevance to decision-making processes.
• Overhead issues and how activity-based analysis aids in rational decision-making and pricing strategies.
• Choosing the most appropriate performance measurement system.
• Going beyond traditional budgeting: Balanced Scorecard and Six Sigma.
• Involvement in the process of change within the company.

Training Methodology:

• Student-centered lectures
• Use of case studies
• General discussions
• Practice sessions
• Business simulations
• Presentations by specialists

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Building a Common Financial Language

• The importance of budgeting and cost control measures in today’s corporate organizations.
• Identifying the target audience of 21st-century business concepts: adding value.
• Developing a process-oriented view of the organization.
• Managerial accounting: domestic vs. business.
• Understanding the financial and non-financial aspects of organizational processes.
• Listing and prioritizing key organizational processes/projects.

Unit 2: Budgeting and Cost Analysis

• Cost definition and terminology.
• Different costs for different situations.
• Classic cost systems vs. activity-based costing: the notion of cost objects.
• Costing of product dump with COGS.
• Direct costs vs. general and administrative costs.
• Classification: costs related to units of product in inventories.

Unit 3: Traditional vs. Advanced Techniques in Cost Control

• Cross-subsidy and cross-subsidization follow-up losses.
• Management of costing systems.
• Management of production costs: direct and indirect costs.
• The cost driver and the hierarchy of costs.
• Project management for humans.
• Investing in ABB, ABM, and budgetary analysis.

Unit 4: Master Budget, Flexible Budgets, and Variance Analysis

• Understanding the master budget and its benefits to the organization.
• Budget and budgetary control in management accounting: perception and definition.
• Examining sales-office flexible-budget variances and volume variances.
• Management perspectives on budgeting processes and organizational performance.
• Critical steps in budgeting: best practices.
• Techniques adopted alongside budget and strategic cost management.

Unit 5: Beyond The Budgets: Balanced Scorecards and Six Sigma

• Performance measurement systems (PMS) for collaborative performance.
• Improving customer satisfaction and business processes in a chaotic environment.
• Countermeasure - Management Control - Preparing people for tasks with minimal documentation.
• Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and strategy maps creation.
• Six Sigma explained.

This budgeting and operational cost control training course is unique and is regarded as a budget control management training program designed for those specializing in operating budgetary managerial accounting. It explains how active budgetary accounting principles are adopted and helps in comprehending operating budget editorial account numbers.

Upon successful completion of the course, delegates will be competent and confident in undertaking budgeting measures within their organizations, ensuring that cost management practices align with organizational strategies.