Engineering Economics with Excel Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Engineers, Engineering 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-FM-159

Before you join: Participants should be comfortable with basic Excel tasks, including entering formulas, using cell references and working with worksheets.

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

Engineering and capital projects compete for scarce funding, yet proposals often combine equipment quotations, operating estimates and financing assumptions without a defensible economic case. A small error in timing, tax treatment, discount rate or residual value can reverse an apparent preference between plant upgrades, energy-efficiency investments, fleet replacements or public infrastructure options. Finance teams need models that expose assumptions and decision rules; engineering teams need to translate technical choices into cash flows that management can compare.

This course develops the financial analysis skills required to appraise engineering, infrastructure and operational investment decisions using Excel. Participants construct cash-flow models, apply time-value-of-money methods, calculate NPV, IRR, MIRR and equivalent annual cost, and compare mutually exclusive alternatives. They estimate costs, account for inflation, taxation, depreciation and working capital, and assess replacement, lease-versus-buy and life-cycle cost decisions. The course also addresses capital rationing, cost of capital, debt-service profiles, sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis and probability-based risk assessment.

Teaching combines practitioner briefings with guided Excel model building, case analysis, group discussion and decision simulations. Cases reflect equipment replacement, manufacturing capacity, energy projects, transport assets and public-sector investment proposals. Participants leave with a reusable Excel investment appraisal workbook, model-review checklist, decision memo structure and an application plan for a current or forthcoming capital decision. The course is suited to professionals who contribute technical, financial or commercial input to investment proposals and need to produce analysis that can withstand management review.

What you will be able to do

  • Construct auditable Excel cash-flow models for engineering and capital investment decisions
  • Calculate present worth, annual worth, NPV, IRR and MIRR using Excel functions
  • Compare mutually exclusive alternatives using incremental analysis and equivalent annual cost
  • Estimate fixed, variable, escalated and life-cycle costs for project appraisals
  • Incorporate taxation, depreciation, working capital and salvage values into after-tax cash flows
  • Evaluate replacement, lease-versus-buy and capital-rationing decisions using economic criteria
  • Test investment cases through sensitivity, scenario, break-even and probability-based analysis
  • Present investment recommendations with documented assumptions, risks and decision evidence

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce investment appraisals that explain technical choices in financial terms
  • Build Excel models that managers can inspect, challenge and approve
  • Identify assumptions most likely to change an investment recommendation
  • Apply consistent methods to replacement, expansion and cost-reduction proposals
  • Contribute credible financial evidence during project approval discussions

For your organisation

  • Improves consistency of capital investment proposals across business units
  • Reduces approval risk from omitted tax, timing and lifecycle assumptions
  • Supports better selection between competing equipment and infrastructure options
  • Makes project risks visible through documented sensitivity and scenario analysis
  • Creates reusable Excel modelling practices for investment review teams

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can frame an engineering decision as a structured and auditable cash-flow comparison.

  • Engineering economy decisions framed as mutually exclusive and independent alternatives
  • Cash-flow diagrams constructed with correct timing, signs, and decision horizon
  • Relevant cash flows separated from sunk costs and allocated overheads
  • After-tax project cash flows identified from revenues, costs, and capital spending
  • Excel workbook architecture set for assumptions, calculations, outputs, and audit trails
  • Cell references, named ranges, and formula checks applied consistently
  • Decision criteria matched to cost minimisation, profit, and service objectives

Participants can value dated cash flows and construct financing schedules using Excel functions.

  • Simple interest, compound interest, and effective annual rates calculated accurately
  • Nominal rates converted using stated compounding frequencies and payment periods
  • Present, future, and annual worth factors derived from cash-flow timing
  • Excel PV, FV, PMT, NPER, and RATE functions configured correctly
  • Uneven dated cash flows valued using XNPV and XIRR functions
  • Loan amortisation schedules reconciled to opening balance, interest, and principal
  • Payment timing tested for end-of-period and beginning-of-period conventions

Participants can select and interpret appropriate discounted cash-flow criteria for investment choices.

  • Net present value calculated using a discount rate consistent with cash flows
  • Internal rate of return interpreted with reinvestment and multiple-root limitations
  • Modified internal rate of return calculated using finance and reinvestment rates
  • Annual equivalent worth compared for alternatives with unequal service lives
  • Benefit-cost ratio assessed for public and infrastructure investment proposals
  • Discounted payback distinguished from payback when liquidity constraints matter
  • Ranking conflicts resolved through incremental cash-flow analysis and NPV

Participants can develop and document cost estimates suitable for engineering economic models.

  • Fixed, variable, and mixed costs classified for engineering economic models
  • Cost-volume-profit analysis calculated using contribution margin and break-even volume
  • Learning curves applied to estimate labour hours for repeated production
  • Cost indices used to update historical equipment and construction estimates
  • Factor estimates distinguished from detailed estimates and contingency allowances
  • Capacity scaling performed with the power-sizing relationship and exponent
  • Excel scenario inputs documented with source, date, and estimation basis

Participants can prepare after-tax project cash flows using consistent inflation and discount-rate assumptions.

  • Real and nominal cash flows matched with consistent discount rates
  • General inflation separated from differential escalation in operating cost forecasts
  • Straight-line and declining-balance depreciation schedules built in Excel
  • Taxable income, tax shields, and after-tax salvage values calculated
  • Working capital investment and recovery included at appropriate project dates
  • Capital allowances and tax-loss treatment flagged for jurisdiction-specific review
  • Currency assumptions separated from inflation assumptions in multinational appraisals

Participants can compare asset alternatives across acquisition, operation, maintenance and disposal stages.

  • Life-cycle cost models assembled for acquisition, operation, maintenance, and disposal
  • Equivalent annual cost used to compare assets with different lives
  • Replacement analysis performed using defender-challenger cash flows and economic life
  • Opportunity cost of retaining existing equipment included in replacement decisions
  • Service requirements translated into measurable performance and availability assumptions
  • Lease-versus-buy comparisons built using after-tax cash flows and residual values
  • Excel comparison dashboard presents assumptions, rankings, and decision rationale

Participants can test how uncertainty affects investment value and recommendation confidence.

  • One-way sensitivity analysis identifies variables with greatest NPV influence
  • Two-variable Data Tables show combined price and volume effects
  • Scenario analysis tests base, downside, and upside operating cases
  • Break-even values calculated for price, volume, cost, and discount rate
  • Probability-weighted expected values calculated from discrete outcome distributions
  • Monte Carlo simulation inputs specified using distributions, correlations, and iterations
  • Risk registers connect technical, commercial, and schedule uncertainties to cash flows

Participants can assess investment portfolios, funding structures and constraints affecting project selection.

  • Capital rationing portfolios selected using NPV, investment limits, and dependencies
  • Mutually exclusive alternatives screened before portfolio optimisation decisions
  • Weighted average cost of capital distinguished from project-specific hurdle rates
  • Debt service schedules model interest, principal, fees, and covenant headroom
  • Financing cash flows separated from project operating cash flows
  • Project cash-flow timing aligned with construction, commissioning, and ramp-up milestones
  • Public-private partnership payment profiles assessed through lifecycle affordability tests

Participants can structure, audit and document Excel models for reliable investment review.

  • Input, calculation, and output sheets structured for transparent review
  • Assumption registers record ownership, source, version, and approval status
  • Formula auditing uses trace precedents, error checks, and balance tests
  • IF, SUMIFS, INDEX-MATCH, and date functions support controlled model logic
  • Data validation prevents invalid scenario selections and inconsistent units
  • Charts communicate cumulative cash flow, NPV profiles, and sensitivities
  • Workbook protection and documentation support controlled handover and reuse

Participants can communicate a financially sound investment recommendation and plan its workplace application.

  • Investment recommendation memos state decision, evidence, assumptions, and limitations
  • Executive charts distinguish base-case value from downside exposure clearly
  • Model outputs reconciled to source data before management review
  • Approval gates linked to estimate maturity, risk ownership, and funding decisions
  • Post-investment review metrics defined for cost, schedule, benefits, and utilisation
  • Application plan identifies a live decision, stakeholders, data, and next actions
  • Peer review questions test economic logic, model integrity, and recommendation quality

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

What you take back to work

  1. Excel investment appraisal workbook template
  2. After-tax cash-flow model
  3. Life-cycle cost comparison template
  4. Sensitivity and scenario analysis dashboard
  5. Investment model review checklist
  6. Investment recommendation memo template

Who should attend

  • Project Engineers — translate technical alternatives into defensible investment cases
  • Engineering Managers — evaluate equipment, capacity and replacement proposals
  • Financial Analysts — build and review capital budgeting models
  • Project Managers — assess project economics through construction and operating phases
  • Asset Managers — compare lifecycle, maintenance and replacement alternatives
  • Procurement Managers — evaluate lease, buy and supplier commercial options

Skills and tools covered

Capital investment appraisalExcel financial modellingLife-cycle costingDiscounted cash flowRisk sensitivity analysisInvestment decision reporting

Tools and standards

Microsoft Excel, NPV and XNPV functions, IRR and XIRR functions, Two-variable Data Tables

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by guided Excel model construction, case work and facilitated group analysis. Participants work through realistic equipment, infrastructure and operational investment decisions, applying discounted cash-flow methods and testing assumptions. Simulations focus on reviewing competing proposals under cost, schedule, tax and risk constraints. Trainers provide feedback on model logic, formula control and recommendation quality. The final sessions use application planning to connect the methods, templates and review questions to participants’ own investment decisions.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable with basic Excel tasks, including entering formulas, using cell references and working with worksheets. They should understand simple business financial terms such as revenue, cost, profit and cash flow, and ideally have experience contributing to a project, asset, engineering or investment decision. Prior exposure to discounted cash flow analysis is useful but not required. The course does not require advanced accounting qualifications, programming knowledge, VBA skills, prior engineering economics study or specialist industry software.

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 be comfortable with basic Excel formulas, worksheets and cell references. Familiarity with cash flow, project costs or investment proposals is helpful, but prior engineering economics study is not required.

Bring a laptop with a desktop version of Microsoft Excel if attending in person or live online. You may also bring a non-confidential project, asset or investment question to use during application planning.

The course suits engineers, project managers, asset managers, financial analysts, procurement professionals and managers involved in capital decisions. It is particularly relevant where technical alternatives must be compared using financial evidence.

General corporate finance commonly focuses on company valuation, financial markets and financial reporting. This course focuses on project and asset decisions, including lifecycle costing, replacement analysis, engineering cost estimation and Excel-based investment models.

You can use the workbook structures and checklists for equipment purchases, plant upgrades, energy projects, fleet replacements and capacity investments. The methods also support review of supplier proposals, project business cases and funding submissions.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from cash-flow foundations and Excel functions to investment criteria, risk analysis, model control and recommendation 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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