Strategic Planning, Effective Budgeting and Cost Control

Today, the human mind is often absorbed in so much data, that it has difficulty processing the multitude of facts and relationships simultaneously and sometimes forgets important elements. Thus, as plans become more and more intricate, they should be documented in writing and include qualitative narratives of goals, objectives, and means of accomplishing the objectives.

This budgeting and cost control course will allow the participant to explore and share with other participants new thoughts in the planning, control, and budgeting cycle, resulting in a renewed energy in returning to the workplace and implementing a more focused budgeting process, which communicates useful and timely information to management.

The course will provide a framework for each topic covered, and then will make extensive use of exercises and case studies.

• Live group instruction
• Detailed practical examples
• Use of case studies and real world examples
• Interactive participation

Course Contents:

• Introduction to planning and control
• Budgeting overview
• Behavioural aspects of budgeting
• Understanding cost behaviour
• Flexible budgets and standard cost systems
• Developing an annual/master budget
• Conceptual aspects of budgeting
• Resource allocation
• Activity-based management and activity-based costing
• Controlling Costs: Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Delivering operational excellence

What this course will enable you to do:

• Acquire best practices in budgeting
• Understand the strategic role of cost concepts
• Explain the costs concepts to the use of cost information for management control
• Describe the role of budgets in the management process
• Discuss the importance of strategy and its role in the master budget
• Prepare a master budget and explain the interrelationships among its supporting schedule
• Understand zero-base, activity based, and kaizen approaches to budgeting
• Explain the essence of control systems
• Develop flexible budgets for evaluating short-term financial performance
• Identify different cost control measures
• Measure and evaluate performance
• Leverage emerging technologies for delivering operational excellence