Budgeting & Forecasting and the Planning Process

Introduction

This Discovery Tools training course ” Budgeting & Forecasting and the Planning Process ” provides the theoretical basis and necessary skills to develop world class strategic planning, forecasting and budgeting processes. A strategy is a long-term plan of what an organisation is going to do to achieve its overall policy. This Finance & Budgeting training course will enable delegates to develop a framework that links strategies to annual budget and targets and aims for world class levels of management and organisational performance.

A budget is a short-term plan of how an organisation quantifies the operational activities required to achieve its long-term strategy. This Budgeting, Forecasting and the Planning Process training course will provide delegates with the skills and forecasting techniques to develop a budget as a plan, and use control budgets and analysis of variances to actual to identify areas in which financial performance may be improved.

This training course will highlight:

Links between Strategic Financial Planning, Forecasting, and Budgeting
Effective Excel and other Forecasting Techniques to support Financial Planning and Budgeting
Impacts on Financial Plans of alternative methods of Financing, and Business and Financial risk
Traditional and Modern Costing Systems that are used in the Budget Process
Best Practice in Operating Budgeting, Budgetary Control, Capital Investment Budgeting, and Cash Forecasting and Budgeting

Course Objectives

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

Improve their ability to think strategically and participate in the integration of the organisation’s strategic management and budgeting processes
Use forecasting techniques most appropriate to their organisation’s strategic planning and budgeting
Apply the techniques that relate to the key principles of financial management: shareholder wealth maximisation; cash flow; time value of money; risk
Appreciate the behavior of costs and identify the costing methods that may best be used in financial planning, budgeting and budgetary control
Use best practice to develop operating budgets, capital expenditure budgets, and cash flow budgets and forecasts in line with organisational strategic objectives

Approved Certificate from