This two-part course will help you identify and address the many pitfalls that can occur throughout your annual budgeting and planning process. You will explore common budgeting and planning challenges and identify strategies and solutions for generating positive outcomes.

Learning Objectives: 

• Assess the effectiveness of your firm's planning process
• Explain the benefits of having a well-structured annual planning process
• Articulate your organisation's mission, strategies, and limitations--and how they impact the budget
• List the minimum requirements to have an effective budget system
• Document the various pitfalls in your processes that should be avoided
• Identify which of the four methods you currently use to develop your operating budget
• Explain the differences among a forecast, a projection, and a budget
• Estimate expenses in your operating budget using the organisation's most common methods
• Develop appropriate rewards, recognition, and incentives to drive ethical and frugal behaviours
• Implement budget cuts with surgical skill
• Add continuous improvement into the budgeting and planning processes
• Assess the quality of the organisation's variance reporting.
• Work with the organisation's leaders to build a culture of accountability
• Start to define the specific responsibilities of each person in the budget process