Skills for Budget Analyst Training

Course Overview

Budget is an inherent part of the financial planning process both in the public sector as well as the private sector. In the public sector, the budget affects almost every citizen and forms the basis of a government’s fiscal policy. It is also a crucial document to plan for future development expenditure. Given the size of public sector expenditure, all appointed budget analysts must have the right skills to deal with forthcoming challenges.

What are the duties of a budget analyst?

Budget analysts at all levels of the government are responsible for determining how to distribute resources effectively among various departments and development programmes. Budget analysts also help measure performance, analyse financial results and help draft budget-related legislation.

 Who is a budget analyst?

Organisations hire a budget analyst to keep a check on all finances, making sure expenditures are on track. Their scope of work involves helping organizations keep a close eye on current finances and plan future budget decisions ahead of time.

Budget preparation in the private sector is equally important for every business, irrespective of its size. The budget should be aligned to the overall strategic plan of the company and should include, inter alia, sales forecast, associated cost of sales, operating overheads and capital expenditure plan for the year. Key performance indicators must be established and monitored throughout the year.

A Budget Analyst would typically need to:

• Determine how a government entity or a company would generate funds and how they would be spent
• Collaborate with different divisions and departments to develop the budget of the organization
• Scrutinise budget proposals of the departments to ensure they are complete, accurate and in compliance with local laws, regulations and policies
• Clearly distinguish between revenue and capital items and budget accordingly
• Monitor organizational expenditures, identify areas where the company is overspending and make appropriate recommendations
• Approve within-budget expenditure and forecast future cash requirements
• Compare actual results to budgeted figures at the end of each reporting period, and report on significant variances

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to ensure that the participants:

• Appreciate the importance of budget preparation exercise
• Critically review the assumptions made in the budget preparation exercise
• Understand different types of budgets and use the one most appropriate to the organization.
• Learn to prepare the organization’s budget from the scratch
• Learn to differentiate between capital and revenue expenditure
• Project Various Types of Expenditures
• Estimate Working Capital Needs
• Compare actual results with the budgeted figures and conduct variance analysis
• Understand Various sources of finance with their utilisation, based on the cost of capital
• Obtain an overview of the financial statements and management reports to evaluate the organisation’s performance
• Understand ratio, horizontal and vertical analytical concepts
• Prepare forward plans based on interim quarterly and half-yearly results
• Know the benefits of having an excellent E.R.P system

Training Methodology

Zoe’s collaborative Budget Analyst Certification Course will comprise the following training methods:

• Lectures
• Seminars & Presentations
• Group Discussions
• Assignments
• Case Studies & Functional Exercises

Like all our acclaimed courses, this program also follows the ‘Do-Review-Learn-Apply’ model, which is a unique way of training by Zoe Talent Solutions.

Organisational Benefits

Organisations nominating their employees to participate in this course can benefit in the following ways:

• Estimate funds requirements together with their sources
• Allocate funds smartly amongst various departments/ divisions
• Ensure a reasonable balance between inflows and outflows of funds to maintain a healthy liquidity position
• Evaluate financial statements and measure own performance in comparison with the budget and historical figures
• Understand components of the budget with a clear distinction between revenue and capital expenditure
• Recognise cost behaviour for better analysis and identify areas for cost-cutting

Personal Benefits

Upon completion of this course, individuals attending the course will be able to:

• Learn key accounting concepts and apply the same for budgetary planning
• Learn to differentiate between cash and accrual accounting
• Prepare budgets and forward plans based on sound assumptions
• Build an Integrated Financial Model for budget preparation including cash flow forecasts
• Gain a thorough understanding of cost behaviour and learn to prepare variance analyses
• Understand components of working capital and learn to reduce operating cycle
• Evaluate financial reports and understand the flow of information within the statements
• Report on KPIs and variance analysis to the senior management
• Know the theory and merits of a proper budget preparation process
• Be part of the budget preparation committee
• Align the planning process with the overall fiscal policy / strategic plan of the organisation
• Understand various types of budgets and see what suits the organisation most

Who Should Attend?

Delegates in the following roles would benefit from Zoe’s Budget Analyst Certification Course:

• Budgeting and planning personnel
• Revenue Department personnel
• Chief Executives
• Financial Controllers
• Departmental managers
• Internal Auditors
• Data analysts
• Risk Officers

Course Outline

Module 1: Introduction to budgeting and the financial statements

1. Planning and budgeting concepts
2. Budget methodologies
3. Risk, uncertainties and assumptions
4. Sensitivity Analysis

Module 2: Different approaches to preparing budgets

1. Preparation of Master Budget
2. Fixed v/s Flexible Budgets
3. Quarterly Reviews
4. Forward Planning
5. Budget/ Actual Comparison
6. Zero-based Budgets

Module 3: Budget Preparation

1. Accounting Conventions
2. Accounting Policies
3. Revenue Recognition
4. Cash v/s Accrual Accounting
5. International Accounting Standards (IAS)
6. International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)
7. WorldCom / Enron Scandals

Module 4: Financial Modelling

1. Components of Financial Reports
2. Balance Sheet
3. Profit & Loss Statement
4. Statement of Cash Flow
5. Statement of Changes in Equity
6. Accompanying Notes to the Accounts

Module 5: Controlling and analysing budgets

1. Market trends and analysis
2. Ratio Analysis
3. Vertical Balance Sheet & P&L Statement
4. Horizontal Balance Sheet & P&L Statement
5. Variance Analysis
6. Price Variance
7. Quantity Variance
8. Mix Variance

Module 6: Cost Accounting

1. Total Absorption Costing
2. Marginal Costing
3. Contribution Margin
4. Break-even Analysis
5. Sensitivity Analysis

Module 7: Sources of Finance

1. Equity and Debt Financing
2. Gearing ratios
3. Cost of Capital
4. Weighted Average Cost of Capital
5. Decisions regarding Dividend Payments

Module 8: Working Capital Control

1. Inventory Control
2. Accounts Receivable
3. Accounts Payable
4. Reconciliation of Sub-ledgers
5. Other Current Assets & Current Liabilities
6. Tax and Deferred Taxation

Module 9: Public Sector Development / Capex

1. Capital Investment Appraisal
2. Return on Investment
3. Payback period
4. Net present Value
5. Internal Rate of Return
6. Public/ Private Partnership projects

Module 10: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

1. Sales
2. Bill of material
3. Material Management
4. Procurement
5. Production
6. Integration with General Ledger