Programme Objective
The role of accounting & finance is fast expanding into one of business partnership with other departments in an organisation. This workshop provides both insight into the business planning process (which is necessary for effective financial planning and budgeting) and key pointers in the budgeting process itself.

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand how longer-term business planning is done
• Be equipped with a practical framework to structure a Business Plan that is easy to read and understand, be it a business-development or process improvement plan
• Know the key points and pitfalls to watch for when assessing or approving Business Plans
• Know how to quantify the payoffs and funding needs
• Know how to incorporate risks into the plans
• Know how to do budgeting effectively

Programme Outline

Business Planning Framework

• In context of Strategic Planning
• Relationship between Business Plans, Financial Plans & Budgets

Strategic Planning Process

• Analysis of external & internal Environment
• Choosing strategies – Relevance of Business Plans
• Implementation – Relevance of Budgets

Structuring an effective Business Plan

• Key components of a formal Business Plan
• Use of the Executive Summary

Identifying key Action Strategy

• Key pointers in Marketing Plan, Operations Plan, Management Plan & Financial Plan
• Inter-dependency of the various plans

Financial Plan: The Payoff

• Net Present Value (NPV)
• Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

Financial Plan: Funding Requirements

• Identifying amount of funds needed

Identifying and Quantifying Risks

• Building risks into Business Plan
• Use of Breakeven and Sensitivity Analysis

Mapping out implementation of Business Plan

• Setting milestones
• Importance of Change Management

Budgeting & Budgetary Control

• Budgeting at Corporate level
• Budgeting at Department of Team level
• Use of Budgets – Planning & Control
• Inter-dependency of Budgets
• Types of Budgets – Static & Flexible

Cash dimension of Budgeting

• Impact of Budgets on Cash Flow Management
• Relevance of Cash Flow Forecast
• Why hold cash
• How much cash to hold

Training Methodology

• Lectures

• Exercises

• Case studies

Closing Date for Registration
1 week before programme or until full enrolment

Intended For

• Financial Controllers, Finance Managers & Accountants who review business plans &/or budgets
• Business Managers who develop business plans &/or provide inputs into budgets
• Entrepreneurs who need to know how to do business planning and financial planning
• Financiers who need to assess the feasibility of business plans furnished by clients

Programme Facilitator(s)