Cost Planning and Control Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Managers, Management Accountants and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-076

Before you join: Participants should understand basic financial statements, arithmetic with percentages and ratios, and common budget terms such as revenue, expense, depreciation and cash flow.

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

Cost planning and control determines whether managers can deliver services, projects and products within approved funding while protecting quality, capacity and cash. Many organisations prepare annual budgets but lack reliable cost drivers, timely variance analysis, disciplined forecasts or clear accountability for corrective action. The result is late intervention, unexplained overspend, weak pricing decisions and budget discussions based on opinion rather than evidence.

This course develops the methods used to plan, measure, analyse and control cost. Participants build cost models from fixed, variable and mixed costs; assign indirect costs using activity-based costing; prepare operating and project budgets; set standards; analyse price, usage, efficiency and volume variances; and update forecasts from actual results. They also examine cost-volume-profit analysis, target costing, earned value management, cost reporting, approval controls and cost-reduction methods that preserve service levels.

Instructor-led sessions combine short technical briefings with worked financial cases, group analysis, budget simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect situations familiar to banks, government agencies, manufacturers, NGOs and project-based businesses, such as a cost overrun in a technology rollout, a branch network budget variance or an underperforming service line. Participants leave with a completed cost planning and control pack containing reusable templates, analysis models, reporting formats and an action plan for their own role.

The course suits finance professionals and operational managers who contribute to budgets, own cost centres, support projects or need to challenge spending decisions. It is particularly useful where managers must explain cost movements clearly and act before variances become difficult to recover.

What you will be able to do

  • Build cost models using fixed, variable, mixed and activity-based cost drivers
  • Prepare operating, capital and project budgets linked to measurable assumptions
  • Calculate standard cost variances for materials, labour, overhead and sales volume
  • Analyse cost-volume-profit relationships to support pricing and capacity decisions
  • Produce rolling forecasts using actual results, committed costs and revised drivers
  • Apply earned value measures to assess project cost and schedule performance
  • Design cost reports with materiality thresholds, ownership and corrective actions
  • Evaluate cost-reduction proposals using target costing, value analysis and risk controls

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Explain cost movements with credible drivers rather than broad spending categories
  • Challenge budget assumptions using volume, price, capacity and productivity evidence
  • Identify the source of material variances before month-end review meetings
  • Prepare forecasts that distinguish committed costs from controllable future spending
  • Present corrective actions with quantified savings, owners and implementation dates

For your organisation

  • Earlier detection of overspend through consistent variance thresholds and reporting
  • More reliable budgets based on documented operational cost drivers
  • Improved allocation of shared costs to services, products and customer segments
  • Stronger project cost visibility using planned value, earned value and actual cost
  • Better savings decisions that test service, quality and control implications

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can classify costs, select relevant cost drivers and build a defensible cost base.

  • Cost objects, cost pools and cost centres distinguished for planning purposes
  • Fixed, variable, stepped and mixed costs identified from operating data
  • High-low method estimates variable rates and fixed cost components
  • Relevant range assumptions tested before applying cost behaviour models
  • Traceable direct costs separated from indirect shared service costs
  • Cost driver selection linked to volume, complexity, capacity and service demand

Participants can assign indirect costs using appropriate allocation bases and activity drivers.

  • Traditional overhead allocation rates calculated using labour or machine hours
  • Activity-based costing assigns resource costs through activities and cost drivers
  • Driver rates calculated from activity cost pools and practical capacity
  • Time-driven activity-based costing models unit times and capacity cost rates
  • Shared service costs allocated using reciprocal, step-down and direct methods
  • Allocation bases assessed for causality, fairness, materiality and decision usefulness

Participants can prepare integrated budgets with explicit assumptions, ownership and approval controls.

  • Budget calendars align planning milestones, review gates and approval authority
  • Revenue assumptions translated into volume, staffing and operating cost plans
  • Driver-based budgeting connects resource requirements to forecast activity levels
  • Zero-based budgeting tests each spend request against current operational need
  • Incremental budgets adjusted for inflation, volume changes and known commitments
  • Capital expenditure budgets distinguish acquisition costs, depreciation and operating impacts

Participants can use contribution analysis to assess pricing, volume and capacity decisions.

  • Contribution margin calculated by product, service, customer and delivery channel
  • Break-even volume derived from fixed costs and unit contribution
  • Margin of safety measures exposure to demand shortfalls
  • Multi-product break-even analysis uses weighted average contribution assumptions
  • Sensitivity analysis tests price, volume, mix and cost changes
  • Capacity constraints prioritise products using contribution per constrained resource

Participants can calculate, interpret and investigate material cost variances.

  • Standard costs set for materials, labour, overhead and service activities
  • Material price and usage variances calculated from standard quantities
  • Labour rate and efficiency variances traced to operational causes
  • Variable overhead spending and efficiency variances separated clearly
  • Fixed overhead expenditure and volume variances interpreted against capacity
  • Variance investigation follows materiality thresholds, timing and controllability criteria

Participants can update cost forecasts using actuals, commitments and changing operating drivers.

  • Rolling forecasts replace expired periods with future planning horizons
  • Actual costs reconciled to budgets, purchase orders and accruals
  • Committed costs separated from discretionary and uncommitted expenditure
  • Estimate to complete calculations identify expected final cost positions
  • Scenario forecasts test demand, exchange rate, inflation and productivity assumptions
  • Forecast accuracy reviewed through bias analysis and error tracking

Participants can monitor project cost performance and forecast likely completion outcomes.

  • Work breakdown structures connect scope packages to cost accounts
  • Cost baselines establish time-phased authorised project expenditure
  • Planned value, earned value and actual cost measured consistently
  • Cost performance index and schedule performance index interpreted
  • Estimate at completion calculated using earned value forecasting formulas
  • Change control protects approved budgets from unauthorised scope additions

Participants can assess savings proposals without transferring cost or creating operational risk.

  • Target costing starts with market price and required profit
  • Value analysis distinguishes essential functions from unnecessary cost elements
  • Kaizen costing sets continuous improvement targets during operational delivery
  • Make-or-buy analysis compares relevant costs, capacity and supplier risk
  • Procurement savings tested against specification, quality, lead-time and transition costs
  • Cost avoidance separated from cashable savings and budget reductions

Participants can design cost reports and controls that drive accountable management action.

  • Management cost reports combine actuals, budget, forecast and variance explanations
  • Materiality thresholds focus attention on significant financial and operational deviations
  • RAG status definitions link variance severity to escalation actions
  • Cost centre accountability assigns owners, review dates and recovery actions
  • COSO control activities applied to approvals, commitments and journal adjustments
  • Root cause analysis distinguishes symptoms from recurring cost control failures

Participants can assemble a practical cost control routine for their own area of responsibility.

  • Planning assumptions documented with sources, owners and update frequencies
  • Monthly control cycle sequences close, analysis, forecast and action reviews
  • Variance narratives connect financial movements to operational performance drivers
  • Corrective action registers record actions, benefits, dates and accountable owners
  • Escalation criteria define decisions requiring senior management intervention
  • Ninety-day implementation plans prioritise improvements to local cost controls

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

What you take back to work

  1. Driver-based cost model template
  2. Annual budget assumptions register
  3. Standard cost variance analysis worksheet
  4. Rolling forecast and estimate-to-complete model
  5. Earned value project cost dashboard
  6. Monthly cost control action register

Who should attend

  • Finance Managers — need stronger budget, forecast and variance-control methods
  • Management Accountants — prepare cost analyses and advise operational leaders
  • Cost Centre Managers — must explain spending and take timely corrective action
  • Financial Analysts — model costs, assess performance and prepare management reports
  • Project Managers — control budgets, commitments and earned value performance
  • Operations Managers — improve resource use without reducing required service levels

Skills and tools covered

Cost driver analysisBudget preparationVariance analysisRolling forecastingProject cost controlCost reporting

Tools and standards

Activity-Based Costing, Earned Value Management, COSO Internal Control Framework, Target Costing

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by worked examples, financial case work, group exercises and budget-control simulations. Participants interpret cost data, build planning assumptions, investigate variances and decide corrective actions using realistic management reports. Facilitated discussion compares the implications of different allocation bases, forecast assumptions and savings proposals. Individual application planning links the methods to participants’ own cost centres, projects or reporting responsibilities. Trainers adapt cases, terminology and spreadsheet complexity to the cohort’s sector and experience.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic financial statements, arithmetic with percentages and ratios, and common budget terms such as revenue, expense, depreciation and cash flow. Some experience preparing, reviewing or managing a departmental budget is useful, whether in finance, operations or project delivery. Participants should be comfortable working with spreadsheet-style tables and interpreting actual-versus-budget reports. Prior knowledge of activity-based costing, standard costing, earned value management or advanced spreadsheet functions is not required. The course does not require a professional accounting qualification or specialist cost-accounting experience.

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

Participants need basic familiarity with budgets, expenses and financial reports. They do not need an accounting qualification or previous experience with activity-based costing, standard costing or earned value.

Bring a calculator if preferred and examples of non-confidential budget reports, cost issues or planning challenges from your role. Course materials and case data are provided, and no proprietary organisational data is required.

It suits finance staff, budget holders, project managers, operational managers and analysts with responsibility for spending or cost reporting. It is designed for professionals who already work with budgets and need more disciplined planning and control methods.

General budgeting courses focus mainly on preparing annual plans, while this course follows the full cost control cycle. It adds cost behaviour, allocation methods, variance investigation, rolling forecasts, project controls and cost-reduction evaluation.

Participants can improve an existing cost-centre report, document budget assumptions, investigate a current variance or update a forecast using commitments and revised drivers. The action plan helps identify the first controls and reports to introduce after the course.

The five days provide approximately 32.5 contact hours, typically from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided among ten teaching modules, worked cases, group analysis, 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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