COURSE OBJECTIVES: Avoid common budgeting pitfalls by obtaining the practical skills to prepare and manage a budget. Following the course participants will be able to contribute effectively to the budgeting process, proactively manage their budget, and interpret budget data.
Participants leave the course able to:
- Understand why and how budgets are prepared (considering the appropriate level of detail and time horizon)
- Know how to monitor performance against budget
- Use practical tips to monitor performance against budget
Useful course notes including case studies, checklists and summaries will help you apply what you have learnt back in the workplace.
COURSE CONTENT
Why Budgets are Prepared
- Benefits of budgeting
- Common pitfalls in the budgeting process and how to avoid them
How Budgets are Prepared
- Budgeting techniques - incremental budgeting, zero based budgeting
- How to prepare different types of budget - revenue, cost, capital, cash
- Practical tips for preparing an effective budget
- Phasing/profiling the annual budget
- Getting buy-in to the budget
- The budget presentation - what you need to be able to answer
What Budget Statements Tell You
- Interpreting the jargon - opex, capex, accruals, fixed costs, variable costs
- Relevant ratios explained - margin, contribution, ROCE
How to Manage the Budget
- What to look for when you get your monthly accounts
- Predicting expenditure
- Investigating differences from budget
- Avoiding overspend and getting back on track
- Forecasting
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course assumes no prior knowledge of budgeting or finance and is suitable for first time budget holders or more experienced budget holders who would like a refresher.
"I found the course absolutely fantastic. The trainer was helpful and the examples brilliant. I would recommend this course and trainer to anyone."
Would you like this course run in-house? Call us on 0207 566 8207 to find out more