An intensive professional development training course on
Planning, Managing and
Measuring Performance
using Spreadsheet Skills
Classroom Training
We currently have no scheduled session for this Finance & Accounting Training Course. If you are interested in running this course, please contact our Training Department at info@aztechtraining.com
Request for a
Brochure Request Now
Brochure Request Now
The Structure
This comprehensive training course consists of two modules which can be booked as a 10 Day Training event, or as individual, 5 Day training courses.
Module 1 - Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting
Module 2 - Effective Budgeting & Operational Cost Control
The Course Content
Module 1 - Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting
Day One: Fundamentals of Business Planning
- The aims and principles of strategic planning
- A framework for effective strategic execution
- The structure and format of financial statements
- Measuring and managing financial performance
- Principles of financial modelling
- Spreadsheet skills: Excel best practice and modelling tips
Day Two: Principles and Techniques of Business Forecasting
- Spreadsheet skills: using Excel’s statistical analysis tools
- Using moving averages to analyse time series data
- Using linear regression for sales trend analysis
- Applying exponential smoothing to forecasting
- Spreadsheet skills: using Excel Solver to minimise forecasting error
- Avoiding common forecasting problems
- Data visualisation – presenting data to non-financial managers
Day Three: Budgeting for Revenue and Operating Costs
- The role of budgeting in the planning cycle
- Traditional and advanced approaches to cost analysis
- Spreadsheet skills: using regression and correlation for cost forecasts
- Criticisms and limitations of conventional budgeting methods
- Beyond Budgeting
- Spreadsheet skills: building rolling forecast models
Day Four: Cash Flow Forecasting and Cash Budgeting
- Understanding the drivers of business cash flow
- Spreadsheet skills: building a cash flow forecast model
- Principles of capital budgeting
- Capital investment appraisal tools
- Understanding discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis
- Spreadsheet skills: building a capital investment appraisal model
Day Five: Incorporating Risk Management in to Planning and Forecasting
- Identifying and analysing business risk
- Probability based approach to decision-making
- Spreadsheet skills: building decision trees in Excel
- Sensitivity analysis and “What-If” forecasting
- Identifying the key drivers of financial performance
- Spreadsheet skills: building a “What-If” forecast for sensitivity analysis
Module 2 - Effective Budgeting & Operational Cost Control
Day Six: Introduction: Building a Common Financial Language
- The key role of budgeting and cost control in contemporary organizations
- The 21st century business imperative: Delivering value added (but to whom?)
- Financial vs. Managerial accounting (for decision making)
- Understand your processes: Integrating financial and non-financial aspects
- The budgeting process
- Examples and Discussion
Day Seven: The Budgeting Process
- The key features of budgeting
- Advantages and concerns with budgeting
- Accountability and centers of responsibility
- Zero-based budgeting
- Budgeting and cost control
- Examples and Discussion
Day Eight: Cost Analysis
- Different costs for different purposes
- Fixed vs. Variable costs
- The Cost-Volume-Profit analysis model
- Contribution Margin analysis
- Examples and Discussion
Day Nine: Traditional vs. Advanced Techniques in Cost-Control
- Under-costing and over-costing: The consequences for profitability
- Indirect (OH) vs. Direct costs
- Traditional Cost Allocations systems vs. Activity-Based Costing (ABC)
- Linking resources, activities and management
- Variance analysis
- Video, Case Study and Examples
Day Ten: Beyond the Budgets: Balanced scorecards and Six-sigma
- Broadening performance measurement systems
- Beyond budgeting: Integrating financial and non-financial issues
- Introducing the Balanced Scorecard
- Introducing the Strategy maps
- Introducing Six-sigma
- Video, Case Study and examples
The Certificate
- AZTech Certificate of Completion for delegates who attend and complete the training course
