Introduction

This seminar brings together important areas of financial management, planning, and control: Financial Analysis, Planning, and Control; Setting & Controlling Budgets. It will help business professionals:

• Plan more effectively for the future

• Use the financial techniques of planning and control

• Improve performance from the use of the tools of financial analysis

• Link planning and budgeting with costing and performance measurement

• Master the skills of budgetary and cost control

Objectives

The seminar provides delegates with the knowledge required to find better answers to questions such as:

• Which specific variables, relationships, and trends are likely to be helpful in analyzing problems?

• How reliable are available financial data, and how are uncertainty and risk likely to impact on the outcomes of decisions?

• In economic and financial analysis what are the implications and relative importance of cash flow as distinct from accounting profit?

• What limitations are inherent in financial data and the key financial statements, and how will these affect the financial analysis?

• How important are qualitative judgments in the context of decision-making?

and to focus on key issues such as:

• Understand strategic planning and budgeting.

• Link finance and operations for budgeting purposes and strategy execution

• Learn how to build a comprehensive performance measurement system

• Learn costing and budgeting terminology used in business

• Understand the importance of a well-defined costing and budgeting process

• Understand cost behavior more accurately

• Be able to perform and interpret variance analysis

Target Audience

• Finance managers and financial controllers
• Budgeting and planning professionals
• Financial analysts and business analysts
• Management accountants and cost accountants
• Senior accountants and finance executives
• Department managers involved in budgeting and performance management
• Professionals responsible for strategic planning and financial decision-making
• Internal auditors and performance management professionals
• Business owners and executives seeking stronger financial planning skills
• Professionals aiming to improve budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis capabilities

Outline 

Day 1: Financial Analysis & Economic Decision-Making

• The challenge of financial economic decision-making
• Financial-economic analysis practices
• Corporate value and shareholder value
• Strategic positioning and competitor benchmarking
• Corporate governance and agency problem
• Nature of financial statements
• Financial analysis in decision-making context

Day 2: Business Performance & Financial Planning

• Ratio analysis and business performance
• Management, owners’, and lenders’ perspectives
• Dupont analysis system
• Economic Value Added (EVA)
• Predicting financial distress
• Financial projections and operating budgets
• Cash forecasts and cash budgets
• Financial growth plans and modeling

Day 3: Investment Decisions & Financial Strategy

• Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC) and MIRR
• Sensitivity and scenario analysis
• Managing risk and uncertainty
• Shareholder value creation
• Business valuation and restructuring
• Financial strategy in acquisitions and reorganizations
• MBOs and MBIs

Day 4: Budgeting Framework & Cost Analysis

• Strategic and financial planning
• Financial vs managerial accounting
• Linking strategy, budgeting, costing, and performance measurement
• SWOT and PESTEL analysis
• Budgeting framework and budgeting process
• Top-down vs bottom-up budgeting
• Incremental vs zero-based budgeting
• Cost behavior and breakeven analysis
• Contribution margin and activity-based costing

Day 5: Budgetary Control & Performance Measurement

• Budget variance analysis
• Static vs flexible budgets
• Standard costing and variance analysis
• Continuous improvement in variance analysis
• Advantages and limitations of budgeting
• Beyond budgeting concepts
• Balanced Scorecard methodology
• Financial, customer, internal process, and learning perspectives
• Linking strategy to budgeting and performance measurement
• Case studies and practical exercises