Course Description

The course is intended for business professionals engaged in budgeting, financial planning, forecasting, profit planning, and control. A budget is the formal expression of plans, goals, and objectives of management that covers all aspects of operations for a designated time period. The budget is a tool providing targets and direction. Budgets provide control over the immediate environment, help to master the financial aspects of the job and department, and solve problems before they occur. Budgets focus on the importance of evaluating alternative actions before decisions are actually implemented. This course explains what budgets are, how they work, how to prepare and present them, and how to analyze budget figures and results. New developments and uses of budgets such as rolling budgets at various managerial levels within a business are illustrated that combine budgeting, forecasting analytics, business intelligence, and collaboration.

Learning objectives

• Recognize the different types of budgets.
• Identify characteristics and advantages of budgeting.
• Recognize how strategic planning and budgeting are linked together.
• Identify certain budget measurements.
• Distinguish between short-term and long-term plans.
• Identify objectives of profit planning.
• Recognize metrics in the profit plan.
• Recognize the major types of budget reports.
• Identify the components of the budget sheet.
• Identify examples of variable costs, fixed costs, and mixed costs.
• Recognize two methods of developing a flexible budget formula: the high-low method and regression analysis.
• Calculate fixed costs and overheard costs.
• Distinguish among three types of responsibility centers.
• Identify weaknesses of many cost systems.
• Identify examples of financial budgets.
• Recognize components of overhead.
• Recognize the purpose and causes of variance analysis.
• Recognize where certain variances arise.
• Identify the value of performance reports.
• Identify the importance of a reasonable sales budget.
• Differentiate between sales planning and sale forecast.
• Recognize the procedures for developing advertising budgets and some characteristics of the advertising budget.
• Identify some methods of calculating advertising budgets.
• Recognize fixed vs. semi-variable vs variable costs.
• Understand the applicability of static budgets.
• Recognize how the flexible budget formula help develop the factory overhead budget.
• Recognize items included in the budget process for general and administrative expenses.
• Identify the factors that need to be considered in R&D planning.
• Identify factors in considering capital expenditures.
• Recognize components of the capital expenditures budget.
• Recognize the importance, attributes and components in a cash budgeting system.
• Identify advantages of using �what-if� scenarios when budgeting.
• Recognize the steps involved in zero-base budgeting and how often it should be conducted.
• Recognize what is involve in a decision package.
• Recognize the special features associated with planning and budgeting for service businesses.
• Identify the unique features and characteristics of governmental and nonprofit organizations (NPOs).

Final examination expiration date:

The program participant will have one year from the date of purchase to complete the course and final examination.