Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting

Introduction:

Planning, forecasting, and budgeting are pivotal components in the business sector. Executed with finesse, they can lead to remarkable success. Despite their importance, many fail to maximize the full potential of the tools at their disposal. This spreadsheet skills for planning, forecasting, and budgeting course will harness the power of Excel to showcase how to amplify your forecasting, planning, and budgeting efforts.

By crafting refined spreadsheets and models, you'll achieve more accurate planning, precise forecasting, and realistic budgeting, all while reducing development time. Extensive what-if analysis can elevate forecasts, plans, and budgets, highlighting critical management factors. These tools seamlessly transfer into coherent business plans, steering the firm's direction.

Understanding the intricacies of budgeting and forecasting is crucial for strategic decision-making. Through our in-depth budgeting and forecasting training, participants will learn best practices and grasp the definitive definition of these terms. They will recognize the significance of a budget forecast spreadsheet and how advanced spreadsheet skills contribute to successful budgeting and forecasting strategies.

Budgeting and Forecasting with Advanced Spreadsheet Skills:

In this spreadsheet skills for planning, forecasting, and budgeting training, participants will explore using advanced Excel tools for effective budgeting and forecasting. From exploring the meaning of budgeting and forecasting to implementing a thorough spreadsheet budgeting program, learners are equipped with skills essential for any proficient financial analyst.

This spreadsheet skills for planning, forecasting, and budgeting course unveils spreadsheet training best practices and explores how to transform raw data into a potent forecast or meticulous planning spreadsheet, thus fostering a robust budgeting and forecasting ecosystem.

Targeted Groups:

• Financial Accounting Team Members.
• Cost and Management Accounting Staff.
• Finance Managers.
• Budget Managers.
• Commercial Managers.
• Capital Investment and Project Team Members.
• Employees aspire to use advanced spreadsheet tools to sharpen their budgeting and forecasting acumen.

Course Objectives:

By spreadsheet skills for planning, forecasting, and budgeting course completion, participants will:

• Understand the various Excel tools available for planning, forecasting, and budgeting.
• Perform sophisticated "what-if" scenarios to improve decision-making.
• Know what Excel techniques to use in a given situation.
• Use the most advanced spreadsheet techniques.
• Know when to take a chance and when not to.
• Learn to use and expand a range of Excel models.
• Develop an improved understanding of how well-prepared Excel models can help the corporation in today's challenging world.
• Understand the risks & rewards of various planning decisions.
• Calculate the impact of alternative inputs on critical outputs.
• Understand the cost/benefit of every decision.
• Enhance their knowledge with the use of the models in the case studies.

Targeted Competencies:

Upon spreadsheet skills for planning, forecasting, and budgeting course completion, participants competencies will:

• Budgeting techniques.
• Construct advanced models in Microsoft Excel.
• Acute forecasting abilities.
• Analyze and evaluate proposals.
• Learn about proficient application of Microsoft Excel functions and tools.
• Appraise budgeting processes.

Course Content:

Unit 1: Introduction to Spreadsheets using Excel:

• Learn worksheet fundamentals and the essentials of spreadsheet skills.
• Utilize the F4 key for Relative and Absolute cell references.
• How do you expose all formulas using built-in functions?
• Name cells & ranges for enhanced workflow.
• Freeze panes, columns, and rows to facilitate viewing.
• Cell and range protections for model stability.
• Navigate function wizards for efficiency.
• Link mechanisms across worksheets for error reduction.
• Discover secret keyboard shortcuts for speed.

Unit 2: Proper Planning:

• Know The foundation of budget planning and forecasting.
• What-if analysis:
  • Scenario development techniques.
  • Understand sensitivity enactment using spinners and scroll bars.
• Know Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and its impact.
• Explore Data tables for expansive options visibility.
• Maximize vs. optimize strategic approaches.
• Understand the Goal Seek command for reverse equation solutions.
• A solver is used to determine the optimal product mix and projection quandaries.

Unit 3: Fantastic Forecasting:

• What is forecasting?
• Understand Qualitative techniques and their uses.
• Explain Quantitative techniques and their uses.
• Smoothing techniques.
• Regression analysis.
• Time series analysis.
• Forecasting growth rates for verification.
• Internal (IGR).
• Sustainable (SGR).
• MIN and MAX functions.
• MEDIAN, MODE & AVERAGE functions.
• GEOMEAN will calculate the average growth rate (AGR).
• When to use RANK, QUARTILE & PERCENTILE?

Unit 4: Beyond Budgeting:

• What is a budget?
• How to build a simple budget?
• Build a Flexible Budget Model.
• Build out a complete budget.
• Operate budget elements.
• Financial budget elements.
• Link them.
• What is the Variance Analysis report, and why is it important to improve your budget?
• Calculate variance analysis to see what must be changed.

Unit 5: Putting It Together – Building The Comprehensive Model:

• Formulate your planning, forecasting, and budgeting models.
• Understand the strategic linking of models for a unified approach.
• Optimize through advanced capital structure understanding.
• Know insights into bond buybacks and their fiscal impact.