Combining Budgeting, Forecasting, and Business Planning

Introduction:

This comprehensive course on business budgeting blends principles of budgeting, forecasting, and business planning. Participants will elevate their planning, budgeting, performance measurement, and reporting practices to high standards. The course explores these concepts in detail and provides practical examples of how they can enhance existing corporate financial planning methods. It introduces innovative approaches for measuring and managing value creation for shareholders and performance management, including capital budgeting, manufacturing budgets, profit targeting, and cash flow estimation.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this budgeting and forecasting conference, participants will be able to:

• Construct a seamless integration of planning, budgeting, and reporting.
• Develop critical financial skills essential for effective decision-making.
• Gain a deep understanding of cost behavior patterns.
• Present actionable and precise information to decision-makers.
• Understand standard costing and budgetary terminology used in businesses.
• Enhance administrative proficiency.
• Master forecasting and budgeting techniques.
• Manage overheads and use Activity-Based Costing for strategic and pricing decisions.
• Implement these theories to drive organizational change.
• Eliminate non-value-adding activities and reduce costs.
• Anticipate and estimate future costs.
• Ensure robust business planning, budgeting, and management reporting processes.

Training Methodology:

• Case Studies
• Interactive Lectures
• Group Discussions
• Role Plays
• Simulations

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Budgets and Strategy in the Global and External Environment

• Organizational planning framework.
• Product/information/decision support cycle.
• Strategic, tactical, and operational forecasts.
• Business planning as strategy formulation.
• Diversity in strategic and tactical planning choices.
• Understanding the business environment.

Unit 2: The Business Plan and Budget Derivation

• Creation of business plan documents.
• Identification of key value drivers.
• Achievement of targets.
• Planning with senior participation.
• Advocacy for Activity-Based Budgeting.
• Reforming budgets.
• Development of cash budgets.

Unit 3: Using Data for Forecasting and Analysis with Excel

• Forecasting challenges.
• Utilizing past data for future projections.
• Creating time series models: histograms, moving averages, exponential smoothing, regression analysis.
• Expertise in exponential smoothing and regression analysis.

Unit 4: Social & Environmental Responsibility and Advanced Cost Analysis

• Understanding cost behavior and break-even analysis.
• High-level comprehension of Activity-Based Costing.
• Cost driver analysis for management activities.
• Identifying core activities.
• Developing an Activity-Based Financial Planner.

Unit 5: Capital Budgeting and Project Appraisal

• Range of capital expenditures.
• Capital project assessment procedures.
• Time value of money.
• Benchmarking WACC and ROIC.
• Estimating cash flow for capital projects.
• Establishing Capital Projects Hurdle Rate.
• Assessing capital projects using NPV, IRR, ARR, and Payback models.