The effective management of budgets and operational cost is a key aspect in leading and managing organizations. Nowadays, if contemporary organizations want to stay competitive, they are urged to think, plan and act in terms of value added to customers and shareholders. Along this line, budgeting, as well as tracking, controlling and reducing cost represent essential activities to be performed and monitored as strategies get executed.

In addressing these issues, this Finance and Accounting training course is relevant for those professionals and analysts facing the difficult challenge of improving performance while reducing costs of those processes for which there are accountable.

This training course will feature:

• The management system in practice
• Budgeting practices
• Traditional and innovative tools for budgeting and cost control
• Multiple cost analysis for different purposes
• KPIs and the Balanced Scorecard

What are the Goals?

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

• Master the budgeting process
• Understand costs behaviour
• Explore traditional and innovative approaches to Budgeting and Cost Control
• Analyse process costing
• Manage balanced scorecard

Who is this Training Course for?

This training course is suitable to a wide range of professionals but will greatly benefit those with direct or indirect budget responsibilities within a Team, Department or Division. Moreover, the training course is suitable to first appointment professionals on fast-track development programs, and to professionals from every business discipline and department who must run budgetary plans, and who are responsible for cost and strategic analysis, including:

• Financial Planning and Control Staff
• Those with direct or indirect financial responsibilities
• Those from every business discipline and department who must run departments and budgetary plans, and who are responsible for cost and strategic analysis
• Those from all sectors of industry, irrespective of functional responsibilities, but particularly those involved in manufacturing, production, engineering or sales
• Those working in a project management environment

How will this Training Course be Presented?

This training course combines theory and practice. Therefore, besides in-class lectures, discussions and exercises, we use company examples to illustrate how the techniques presented have been applied in real case studies. The purpose is to use a mix of proven learning techniques to ensure maximum understanding, comprehension and retention of the information presented.

The Course Content

Day One: 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 processes
• Examples and Discussion

Day Two: The Budgeting Process

• The key features of budgeting
• Advantages and concerns with budgeting
• Accountability and centres of responsibility
• Zero-based budgeting
• Budgeting and cost control
• Examples and Discussion

Day Three: Cost Analysis

• Different costs for different purposes
• Fixed vs. Variable costs
• The Cost-Volume-Profit analysis model
• Contribution Margin analysis
• Examples and Discussion

Day Four: 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
• Case Study and Examples

     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
• Case Study and examples