Budgeting for Managers

This course is ideal for any manager or spending official who oversees financial income or expenditure and wants to understand more about how the budgeting process works.

Course objectives

By the end of this one-day budgeting course, the participants will have:

• Understood the stages of the budgetary cycle and consider different ways of setting a budget
• Prepared the budget for an organisation based on a Case Study scenario
• Debated the behavioural challenges surrounding the management of budgets
• Analysed an organisation’s financial performance and recommend suitable actions

Section 1: Business finance

• Identify and understand sources of capital for a business
• Consider the uses of capital, including current assets, non-current assets and expenses
• Explain the working capital cycle and its implications for an organisation
• Clarify the difference between profit and cashflow

Section 2: The primary financial statements

• Understand accounting concepts of accruals, going concern, prudence and consistency
• Define the components of a Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position)
• Calculate the value of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet, including depreciation
• Define the components of an Income Statement (Profit & Loss Report)
• Calculate financial adjustments to the Income Statement, including accruals and prepayments
• Briefly consider the double-entry nature of financial transactions

Section 3: Introduction to budgeting

• Understand budgeting from a broader business perspective
• Explore the stages of the budgetary cycle
• Consider different ways of setting a budget, including:
  • Top Down and Bottom Up
  • Fixed / flexible
  • Incremental, zero-based and rolling

Session 4: Preparing a budget

• Trace the budgeting pyramid through all components of the organisation’s budget
• Case Study: prepare a budget for an organisation using the information provided
• Apply the balanced scorecard to highlight non-financial Key Performance Indicators
• Debate behavioural challenges to setting an effective budget

Sessions 5 – 6: Making the numbers talk

• Case Study: analyse an organisation’s financial performance against budget and recommend appropriate actions

Note: There is the opportunity for the organisation’s own management accounts to be used for this exercise.

The training will be supported with:

• Half a day’s consultancy time to personalise the training to meet your organisation’s needs and practices
• A participant workbook with tips, techniques and space for personal notes. For a sustainable solution, we offer editable workbooks for online use and exercise handouts for printing

Check pricing

• Finance for Non Financial Managers