Description

Most financial leaders would agree that budgeting is easy when business and the economy are stable. When revenues and expenses are expected to remain the same, the process becomes merely an exercise in carrying over what was done before to the current year. However, what happens when we are not sure about how the market will react to our product? What happens when the competitive landscape changes? In this course, we will discuss budgeting techniques and considerations when business lacks stability. Through a combination of theory and real-world examples, we will explore how to build flexibility into our budget - so that it can inform and drive decision-making when we don't quite know what is ahead.

This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Instructor: David Peters

Target Audience

CFOs & Controllers who are involved in the budgeting process.

Course Objectives

After attending this presentation you will be able to...Recall the difference between a forecast and a budgetIdentify the difference between top-down and bottom-up budgetingState the key elements of a flexible budgeting approachIdentify key cost driversState how behavioral biases may affect the budgeting processIdentify how headcount efficiency may be measuredDetermine scenario planningRecognize best practices and controls for managing budget changes

Subjects

The major topics that will be covered in this class include:Budgets vs. ForecastsCyclicalityCore Earnings & Sustainable GrowthIdentifying Key Forecast DriversReasonableness in ForecastingApproaches to BudgetingBudgeting VariancesHorizontal AnalysisFlexible Budgeting

Prerequisites

Must be a CFO or on track to become CFO, must understand basic budget processes