Budget Analysis and Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Budget Analysts, Finance Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PFM-019

Before you join: Participants should have practical exposure to organisational budgets, financial reports, programme plans, procurement plans or spending approvals.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Public-sector managers must turn policy commitments into affordable, authorised and controllable spending plans. This requires more than preparing annual estimates: budget analysts must test fiscal assumptions, calculate resource requirements, challenge weak submissions, monitor execution, explain variances and recommend corrective action. Poor budget analysis can produce unfunded mandates, payment arrears, unrealistic revenue plans, weak service delivery and audit findings.

This course develops the practical methods used to formulate, analyse and manage public budgets. Participants work through the public budget cycle, medium-term expenditure frameworks, programme budgeting, cost estimation, budget call circulars, variance analysis, cash forecasting, commitment control and capital project appraisal. They learn to assess budget proposals against fiscal ceilings, service priorities, performance evidence and control requirements. The course also covers PEFA budget reliability indicators, GFS 2014 classifications, COSO internal control principles and methods for presenting recommendations to senior decision-makers.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with public-sector cases, group analysis, budget simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect the decisions faced by ministries, municipalities, regulators, health agencies, education departments and publicly funded programmes. Participants leave with reusable templates for budget preparation, programme costing, monthly variance reporting, rolling cash forecasting and budget briefings. They also produce a 90-day plan for improving one budget process, control or reporting practice in their own institution.

The course suits professionals who already work with budgets, financial reports, programmes or spending proposals and need stronger analytical responsibility. It is particularly relevant where budgets are subject to legislative scrutiny, donor requirements, fiscal rules, annual appropriations and formal audit.

What you will be able to do

  • Analyse public budget proposals using fiscal ceilings, cost evidence and performance information
  • Build medium-term expenditure estimates using baseline, price, volume and policy assumptions
  • Prepare programme budgets linking objectives, outputs, activities, indicators and resource requirements
  • Evaluate spending bids using unit costing, priority ranking and affordability tests
  • Monitor budget execution through variance analysis, commitment data and monthly reporting
  • Apply COSO-based control procedures to appropriations, commitments, virements and payments
  • Forecast short-term cash requirements using rolling receipts, disbursement and commitment data
  • Communicate budget risks and recommendations through concise briefing packs and visual reports

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible budget estimates supported by transparent assumptions and costing evidence
  • Identify material execution risks before they become arrears or unauthorised spending
  • Present concise budget recommendations to senior managers and approval bodies
  • Use rolling forecasts to anticipate cash shortfalls and funding pressures
  • Build a documented record of budget analysis skills for finance and planning roles

For your organisation

  • More realistic budget submissions aligned with fiscal ceilings and service priorities
  • Earlier detection of overspending, underperformance and unfunded policy commitments
  • Stronger commitment controls and clearer audit trails for budget decisions
  • Improved cash planning that reduces payment delays and avoidable arrears
  • Better-quality management reports for executive, legislative and donor scrutiny

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can map the public budget cycle and distinguish the authorities governing budget preparation and execution.

  • Budget cycle roles, decision gates and statutory approval milestones
  • Annual appropriations, commitment authority and cash release distinctions
  • PEFA budget reliability indicators and their management implications
  • Chart of accounts segments supporting budget control and reporting
  • Distinguishing administrative, economic, functional and programme budget classifications
  • Fiscal rules, debt limits and medium-term expenditure constraints

Participants can construct medium-term budget assumptions and assess their fiscal risks.

  • Macroeconomic assumptions translated into revenue and expenditure planning parameters
  • Revenue forecasting using trend, elasticity and scenario-based methods
  • Baseline expenditure estimates separating price, volume and policy changes
  • Medium-Term Expenditure Framework ceilings linked to fiscal forecasts
  • Fiscal risk registers covering guarantees, SOEs and contingent liabilities
  • Alternative scenarios tested against deficit, debt and liquidity indicators

Participants can structure programme budgets around results, service demand and defensible spending priorities.

  • Programme budget structures connecting objectives, outputs, activities and resources
  • Logic models linking inputs, outputs, outcomes and measurable indicators
  • Cost drivers identified for staffing, grants, procurement and service volumes
  • Zero-based budgeting decisions supported by activity-level cost evidence
  • Incremental budgeting assessed against baseline validity and service demand
  • Priority ranking matrices applied to competing spending proposals

Participants can prepare costed budget submissions that meet ceilings, evidence and approval requirements.

  • Budget call circulars specifying ceilings, assumptions and submission requirements
  • Costing templates built from unit costs, quantities and escalation factors
  • Workforce plans reconciled with establishment control and payroll projections
  • Procurement plans aligned with lead times, contracts and commitment profiles
  • Bid narratives justified through service need, evidence and affordability
  • Budget consolidation checks identifying double counts, omissions and unfunded mandates

Participants can interpret execution data, identify material variances and recommend corrective action.

  • Variance analysis separating price, volume, timing and policy effects
  • Flexible budgets adjusted for actual activity levels and approved scope changes
  • Monthly budget reports reconciling appropriations, commitments, obligations and payments
  • Exception thresholds directing management attention to material deviations
  • Root-cause analysis using five whys and fishbone diagrams
  • Corrective action logs assigning owners, deadlines and expected financial effects

Participants can apply budgetary controls that prevent unauthorised commitments and strengthen accountability.

  • Commitment controls preventing expenditure beyond available appropriations and allotments
  • Segregation of duties across requisitioning, approval, receiving and payment
  • Funds availability checks performed before purchase orders and contract awards
  • Internal control activities documented using COSO principles
  • Audit trails retained for budget adjustments, virements and supplementary requests
  • Fraud red flags monitored in payroll, grants and procurement spending

Participants can prepare rolling cash forecasts and manage spending within available liquidity.

  • Cash forecasts integrating payment schedules, revenue collections and financing flows
  • Thirteen-week rolling forecasts updated from commitments and disbursement plans
  • Cash rationing decisions prioritised statutory obligations and essential services
  • Treasury single account principles applied to idle balance management
  • Commitment plans aligned with quarterly cash release ceilings
  • Arrears ageing analysis distinguishing disputed, verified and overdue liabilities

Participants can assess capital proposals using financial, economic and implementation evidence.

  • Capital project appraisal using discounted cash flow and net present value
  • Cost-benefit analysis identifying economic costs, benefits and distributional effects
  • Life-cycle costing covering acquisition, operations, maintenance and disposal
  • Sensitivity analysis testing demand, cost escalation and completion-delay assumptions
  • Public investment project gates linking appraisal, selection and implementation
  • Multi-criteria analysis used where benefits cannot be reliably monetised

Participants can use performance and equity evidence to support budget allocation decisions.

  • Performance indicators tested for relevance, reliability, timeliness and controllability
  • Performance dashboards linking budget execution to output delivery
  • Gender-responsive budgeting analysis identifying differential access and expenditure impacts
  • Equity considerations incorporated into allocation criteria and service targets
  • Spending reviews evaluating efficiency, effectiveness and fiscal sustainability
  • Budget reallocations supported by evidence, approval routes and documented trade-offs

Participants can present budget findings clearly and plan targeted improvements to their budget processes.

  • Budget briefing packs tailored for executives, legislators and programme managers
  • Data visualisation selecting variance charts, waterfalls and expenditure trend lines
  • Management narratives distinguishing facts, assumptions, risks and recommendations
  • Budget challenge meetings structured around evidence, alternatives and decision records
  • Recommendations framed with financial impact, implementation actions and accountable owners
  • Ninety-day application plans targeting one budget process improvement

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Medium-term budget baseline model
  2. Budget call circular checklist
  3. Programme costing template
  4. Monthly variance analysis pack
  5. Thirteen-week cash forecast model
  6. Budget briefing and 90-day action plan

Who should attend

  • Budget Analysts — strengthen analysis of estimates, variances and funding requests
  • Finance Managers — improve budget control, forecasting and management reporting
  • Programme Managers — justify resource requirements against outputs and service commitments
  • Public-Sector Accountants — connect accounting data with appropriations and budget execution
  • Policy Officers — assess affordability and fiscal implications of policy proposals
  • Internal Auditors — review budget controls, commitments and evidence trails

Skills and tools covered

Budget formulationProgramme costingVariance analysisCash flow forecastingCommitment controlFiscal risk assessment

Tools and standards

PEFA Framework, Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, Medium-Term Expenditure Framework

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce public financial management methods, followed by guided case work using budget estimates, execution reports, cash data and spending proposals. Participants analyse realistic scenarios in small groups, compare alternative funding decisions and practise presenting evidence-based recommendations. Simulations address budget negotiations, in-year variance management and cash constraints. Facilitated reviews connect the methods to participants' own budget processes, ending with an individual 90-day application plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to organisational budgets, financial reports, programme plans, procurement plans or spending approvals. They should be comfortable reading tables of revenue, expenditure and variances, and able to perform basic percentage and spreadsheet calculations. Experience in a ministry, municipality, public agency, donor-funded programme, state-owned entity or similar institution is useful. Prior formal training in public finance, accounting or economics is not required. Advanced modelling, statistical software, audit certification and knowledge of a specific national budget law are not required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience reading budgets, financial reports, programme plans or spending requests. Basic spreadsheet calculations are expected, but formal accounting, economics or public finance qualifications are not required.

Bring a laptop if attending in person, as templates and case materials are designed for spreadsheet-based analysis. You may also bring a non-confidential budget report, budget calendar or variance report from your workplace for reference.

The course is designed for budget analysts, finance managers, programme managers, accountants, policy officers and internal auditors working with public funds. It also suits staff supporting donor-funded programmes or state-owned entities with formal budget processes.

This course focuses on public appropriations, fiscal ceilings, programme budgets, cash releases, legislative scrutiny and public-sector controls. General financial management courses usually place greater emphasis on commercial profitability, private-sector investment and financial statements.

Participants can apply the costing, variance reporting, commitment control and cash forecasting methods to current budget cycles. The final application plan identifies one practical improvement, such as a revised budget template, variance review process or cash forecast.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten teaching modules, with time allocated to instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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