Reporting and Budgeting - Level 2

Course details

Course Introduction:
This course from LCT provides in-depth training on advanced financial reporting and budgeting techniques. Delegates will enhance their skills in analyzing complex data, forecasting, and creating sophisticated financial reports. By the end of the course, participants will be adept at using advanced tools and methods to drive strategic financial decisions and improve overall organisational financial performance.

Course Outcomes:
Go beyond the description of financial performance to calculate and interpret key information
Interpret trends shown in each financial statement
Comment on their own and competitors liquidity, efficiency and funding
Assess the influential role of all stakeholders
Develop a business funding policy to manage financial risk
Evaluate the growing influence of corporate finance on strategy
Exploit the growing strategic role in developing competitive advantage

Who Should Attend:
Managers and executives from all sectors who input into strategic and financial planning for their organisation, including those:


Newly appointed into a strategic planning role
Treasury department managers who wish to increase the strategic role of the treasury function
Financial planning practitioners who want to update their skills
Managers who want to review their organisations performance
Budget holders who want to identify trends in expenditure
Operations managers who want to know more about how they compare with competitors
Senior managers who require greater financial literacy skills
Managers facing financial decisions or contribute to a wider planning process

Course Topics:
Key Financial Concepts and principles Covered in Level 1 Course

Comparison of cash and accrual accounting
Main features of IFRS and IPSAS
The key statements according to IFRS and IPSAS
Overview of the budget processes in public and private sector
Assessing financial performance


Management Accounting

Types of management information prepared for internal consumption
Financial information managers need in order to be able to manage the power of comparisons
Historical revenues and profits cost trends product profit margins receivables information budget comparisons break-even analysis and contribution margin analysis


Managing the Costs and Finances of Projects

The stages of project management PMBOK Guide and Prince 2 compared
Building the Business case and getting approval for funding
Estimating project costs expert analogous parametric bottom up estimating etc
Understanding Gantt charts
Project forecasts
Project risks and financial implications


Building an Effective Budget

Public Sector context of financial management
Public budgeting seen through four perspectives political economists accountants managers
Approaches to budgeting including; line item budgeting program budgeting zero-based budgeting priority-based budgeting
Three prerequisites for budget preparation
Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks aligning budgets


Investment and Risk

Building an investment portfolio key questions WHY are we investing REQUIRED RETURN WHAT do we invest in WHEN do we invest WHERE do we invest
Five key stages risk preference asset classes amount to invest in each class choose investments monitor and rebalance
Fundamental and Technical analysis techniques
Identification and mitigation of key risks