Best Budget Preparation Skills

OBJECTIVES
The participants on this training course will be able to:
• Learn Costing and Budgeting Terminology used in Business
• Understand the Importance of a Well-Defined Costing and Budgeting Process
• Determine Full Costs of Outputs for the Goods and Services provided
• Master traditional Techniques and recent Best Practices
• Link Finance and Operation for Budgeting Purposes and Strategy Execution
• Learn How to Build a Comprehensive Performance Measurement System
COURSE OUTLINE
Budgeting and Its Role Within the Management Process
• The Role of Budgeting within Management Accounting
• Linking Costing and Budgeting to Strategy and Performance Measurement
• The Process of Value Creation: Implications for Budgeting
• What is a Budget and Why Costing is Fundamental?
• Budgets – The Financial Expression of the Operating Plan
• Linking Financial and Operational Issues
• Behavioural Implications of Budgeting
• Case Discussion and Examples

Costs Analysis for Budgetary Purposes
• Costing for Budgeting: Why?
• Cost Terms and Purposes
• Fixed and Variable Costs
• Cost, Volume, Profit (CVP) Relationships
• The Key Concept of Contribution Margin
• Direct and Indirect Cost – The Allocation Problem
• Traditional Methods vs. Activity Based Costing (ABC)
• Case Discussion and Examples

The Framework for Budgeting
• Elements of the Budgeting Framework
• Key Concepts and Terminology
• Advantages and Disadvantages: Critical Issues to be Discussed
• Overview of the Financial Statements
• Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and the Statement of Cash Flows
• Introducing Cost Analysis for Decision-Making
• The Importance of Understanding Full Costs
• Case Discussion and Examples

Flexed Budgets and Variance Analysis
• Budgeting for Management Control Purposes
• Explain Why Standard Costs are used in Variance Analysis
• Describe the difference between a Fixed Budget and a Flexed Budget
• Compute Flexed Budget Variances and Sales Volume Variances
• How to Interpret Variance Analysis?
• Integrate continuous improvement into Variance Analysis
• Is Budgeting Enough?
• Case Discussion and Examples

Beyond Budgeting: Broadening Performance Measurement Systems
• Shortcomings of Traditional approaches to Budgeting and Measurement
• Linking Financial to Operational Issues
• Linking Strategy to Performance Measurement
• The Balanced Scorecard and Six Sigma
• Financial Perspective
• Customer Perspective
• Internal Business Process Perspective
• Learning and Growth Perspective
• Developing and Adapting the Scorecard
• Case Discussion and Examples

FOR WHOM:
Financial Professionals, R&D Professionals, Sales / Marketing Professionals, General Accounting Professionals, Business Unit Professionals

Methodology
The training methodology integrates lectures, interactive discussions, collaborative group exercises, and illustrative examples. Participants will acquire a blend of theoretical insights and hands-on practical experience, emphasizing the application of learned techniques. This approach ensures that attendees return to their professional environments equipped with both the competence and self-assurance to effectively implement the acquired skills in their responsibilities.
DATE:
1ST BATCH: 14th – 17th Apr, 2025
2ND BATCH: 28th – 31st Oct, 2025