Advanced Budgeting and Forecasting Training

Learning Outcomes

• Apply advanced budgeting techniques such as zero-based budgeting and activity-based budgeting to improve resource allocation.
• Analyse financial data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for accurate forecasting.
• Evaluate the impact of internal and external factors on budget assumptions and forecasts.
• Design comprehensive budgeting and forecasting models that integrate with organisational strategy.
• Implement rolling forecasts and scenario planning to enhance agility in financial planning.
• Demonstrate the ability to present and communicate budget and forecast information effectively to stakeholders.

Target Audience

This course is designed for financial managers, budget analysts, management accountants, and senior finance professionals who are responsible for budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning within their organisations.

Prerequisites

A foundational understanding of budgeting and forecasting principles, as well as proficiency in financial statements and Excel.

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

The practicals provide hands-on experience in building, analysing, and presenting budgets and forecasts. Learners will use spreadsheet software to construct budgets, apply forecasting techniques, perform variance analysis, and present findings, reinforcing theoretical concepts with real-world scenarios.

Practical Activities

• Practical 1: Building a Master Budget — Learners work in groups to prepare a master budget for a case-study company, including sales, production, direct materials, labour, overhead, and cash budgets. (4h)
• Practical 2: Forecasting with Time Series and Regression — Learners apply moving averages, exponential smoothing, and regression to historical sales data to forecast future demand, then evaluate accuracy. (4h)
• Practical 3: Variance Analysis and Corrective Actions — Learners analyse budget vs actual data, compute variances, and propose corrective actions for a case-study company. (4h)
• Practical 4: Budget Presentation and Strategic Alignment — Learners prepare a presentation of a budget proposal, including strategic alignment and risk analysis, and deliver it to a panel. (4h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.