Budgeting, Forecasting and the Public Finance Cycle Course

Introduction

This course provides both the theoretical foundation and the practical skills required to build world-class standards into planning, budgeting, performance measurement, and reporting systems. Delegates will learn concepts, processes, and techniques of budgeting and business planning to enhance their ability to perform planning and budgeting tasks effectively.

Through real case studies, analysis, and examples, delegates gain critical cost awareness and budgetary skills, essential for managing and controlling processes and projects in today’s competitive environment where budgets are closely linked with strategy formulation and cost analysis.

This course will feature:

• Budgets and Strategy in Today’s International Environment
• The Business Plan and Budget Development
• Analysing the Applicability of Historical Data Using Excel®
• Using Activity-Based Budgeting and Cost Analysis Techniques
• The Public Financing Cycle

Objectives

• Build an integrated planning, budgeting, and reporting process
• Understand costs behaviour more accurately
• Deliver more timely and useful information to decision-makers
• Improve budgeting and financial skills required for better decision-making
• Strengthen understanding of public financing systems
• Ensure projects and programs are effectively linked to budgets and strategies

Content

Day One

Budgets and Strategy in Today’s International Environment

• Organizational planning framework
• The product / information / decision support cycle
• Strategic, tactical, and operational forecasts
• The strategic approach to business planning
• Various strategic and tactical approaches to business planning
• The international business environment

Day Two

The Business Plan and Budget Development

• Developing the business plan
• Identification of key value drivers
• Achieving objectives
• Zero base budgeting
• Activity-based budgeting
• Developing the Cash Budget

Day Three

Analysing the Applicability of Historical Data Using Excel®

• Problems of forecasting
• Using historical data to help predict the future
• Forecasting
• Development of Time Series Models
• Using Regression Analysis as a predictor and estimator
• Mastering the use of Exponential Smoothing as a Data Analysis tool

Day Four

Using Activity-Based Budgeting and Cost Analysis Techniques

• Cost behaviour and breakeven analysis
• Activity-based costing
• Budgeting for Processes rather than Departments
• Defining Key Cost Drivers
• Defining Key Activities
• Developing the Activity-Based Budget

Day Five

The Public Financing Cycle

• Comprehensive overview of the stages of the public financing cycle: budget formulation, approval, execution, reporting, and audit
• Strengthening participants’ understanding of the linkages between sector planning and national budget processes
• Building the capacity of staff to apply international good practices while adapting them to local contexts
• Ensuring alignment with reforms that enhance the capacity, effectiveness, and fairness of domestic financing