About Course

Training on Budgeting, Forecasting and Planning

Category: Accounting and Finance Training

Overview

The Expedition

About the program

The Budgeting Forecasting Planning Training program is designed to help finance and strategy professionals bridge the gap between strategic goals and practical financial execution. This hands-on course empowers participants to strengthen strategic thinking, implement reliable forecasting models, and apply budgeting techniques rooted in core financial principles.

Attendees will gain the expertise to align financial plans with organizational priorities, improve budgetary control, and apply best practices for cash flow, capital, and operating budgets. Delivered in-person or virtually, this training equips learners to make informed, forward-looking decisions that drive financial sustainability and support long-term success.

Certification is awarded upon successful completion.

Program Objectives

By the conclusion of this Budgeting, Forecasting, and Planning training program, participants will be able to:

Enhance their strategic thinking capabilities and actively contribute to the fusion of the organization’s strategic management and budgeting procedures.
Utilize forecasting methods that align with their organization’s strategic planning and budgeting.
Apply techniques aligned with key financial management principles, including shareholder wealth maximization, cash flow management, time value of money, and risk assessment.
Understand cost behavior and identify optimal costing methods for financial planning, budgeting, and budgetary control.
Implement best practices to formulate operating budgets, capital expenditure budgets, and cash flow budgets and forecasts that align with organizational strategic objectives.

Target Audience

This training program is ideal for professionals engaged in budgeting, financial planning, and forecasting within organizations. It caters to both financial and non-financial roles, including:

Line Managers
Project Managers
Professional Advisers and Consultants
Finance professionals in departments such as accounting, costing, and treasury

Training Period

Classroom: 5 Days
Online: 7 Days

Modules

Module 1: Strategic Management and Financing

Strategic Analysis, Strategic choices and evaluation, and Strategic implementation.
The Links between Strategy, Forecasting, Planning, Budgeting, Performance Measurement.
Strategic capability and avoiding the Spiral of Death.
Shareholder Wealth maximization, Corporate and Shareholder value creation.
Financial Strategy, Dividend Policy, the Agency Problem and Corporate Governance.
Long-term Financing.
Debt and Equity; (CAPM); Cost of Debt; (WACC).
Capital Structure Optimization Models to minimize WACC.
Using Strategy Maps to link strategies to Performance Measurement: The Balanced Scorecard.

Module 2: Financial Planning, Forecasting, and Risk Analysis

The Financial Planning Process and Modelling using Excel.
Statistical Forecasting Tools and Techniques.
Time series; moving averages; exponential smoothing; Pareto Analysis; trend progression; linear regression; correlation.
Forecasting long- and short-term sales revenues, and sales pricing.
Porter’s generic strategy of cost leadership and differentiation; Bowman’s strategy clock; life-cycle costing; kaizen costing; value-based pricing.
Using Excel for Optimum Product mix decisions.
Short-term Financing, Working Capital, and the Cash Operating Cycle.
Direct and Indirect Cash Flow Analysis and Cash Flow Forecasting using Excel.
Uncertainty and Risk:
Business Risk.
Financial Risk.
Systematic Risk.
Unsystematic Risk.

Module 3: Cost Analysis Techniques

Cost Behavior and Activities
Fixed and Variable Costs, Direct and Indirect Costs.
Product Costs and Period Costs.
Cost Allocation and Absorption of Overheads.
Absorption or Full Costing.
Marginal Costing.
Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) and ‘what-if’ analysis using Excel.
Activity Based Costing (ABC) and Activity Based Management (ABM).

Module 4: Budgeting, Budgetary Control and Performance Improvement

To Budget or Not – Purposes and Reasons for Budgets.
Stages in the Budget Preparation Process.
Preparation of the Master Budget.
Activity Based Budgeting (ABB).
Responsibility Accounting and Variance Analysis.
Standard costing; flexed budgets; budgetary control to measure organizational and management performance.
Advantages, Disadvantages and Behavioral Aspects of Budgeting.
The Conflict between Performance Improvement and the Costing System.
Lean thinking and integrating continuous performance improvement into the Budget Process.

Module 5: Project Appraisal and Capital Budgeting

The Time Value of Money.
Future Values.
Present Values.
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF).
Capital investment Project Appraisal.
Accounting Rate of Return (ARR); payback; Net Present Value (NPV); Internal Rate of Return (IRR); Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR); Discounted Payback; Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC).
Project Risk.
Sensitivity Analysis; simulation; scenario analysis; NPV break-even.
Capital Rationing.
Capital Budgeting and the Profitability Index (PI).

Delivery Method

This program is taught through a mix of practical activities, theory, group work and case studies. Training manuals and additional reference materials are provided to the participants.