Financial Planning and Analysis Training Course

Participants can identify the SAP S/4HANA finance data needed for reliable planning and analysis.

• SAP S/4HANA universal journal concepts supporting actuals and plan comparisons
• Chart of accounts, company codes, profit centres and cost centres
• Financial dimensions required for entity, product, customer and channel analysis
• Actuals extraction rules for closed periods, adjustments and restatements
• Planning versions separating budget, forecast, scenario and target submissions
• Data lineage from source transaction through finance reporting outputs

Participants can establish planning dimensions and data controls that support consistent reporting.

• Planning grain selected by period, entity, account, product and customer
• Master-data ownership for accounts, cost centres, profit centres and hierarchies
• Hierarchical roll-ups supporting departmental, business-unit and group reporting
• Mapping tables reconciling operational data categories to financial accounts
• Data-quality checks for missing members, duplicates and invalid combinations
• Materiality thresholds applied to planning detail and management reporting

Participants can build a linked profit, balance sheet and cash flow planning model.

• Three-statement model architecture linking profit, balance sheet and cash flow
• Sign conventions and account logic preventing model aggregation errors
• Opening-balance roll-forwards for receivables, inventory, payables and debt
• Income statement drivers linked to balance-sheet and cash consequences
• Model checks using balance tests, bridge tests and reasonableness reviews
• Assumption registers documenting source, owner, timing and approval status

Participants can forecast revenue using operational drivers and commercial assumptions.

• Revenue build-ups using volume, price, mix, conversion and retention drivers
• Customer segmentation separating contracted, pipeline and discretionary revenue
• Sales pipeline weighting using probability, stage and expected-close-date assumptions
• Price-volume-mix analysis for revenue movement and margin interpretation
• Foreign-exchange assumptions applied to transaction currency and reporting currency
• Revenue recognition timing aligned with contractual delivery and billing milestones

Participants can construct operating expense plans using controllable and committed cost drivers.

• Fixed, variable, semi-variable and step-cost classification for planning purposes
• Headcount plans connecting workforce numbers, grades, salaries and start dates
• Supplier-spend forecasts based on contracts, consumption and renewal assumptions
• Cost allocation bases for shared services, facilities and information technology
• Zero-based review applied to discretionary expense categories and initiatives
• Inflation, indexation and foreign-exchange effects incorporated into cost plans

Participants can plan capital investment, depreciation and related funding effects.

• Capital expenditure schedules by project, asset class, timing and approval gate
• Business-case inputs covering cost, benefit, risk, timing and accountable owner
• Depreciation forecasts using useful life, residual value and in-service dates
• Capitalisation rules distinguishing operating expense from fixed-asset additions
• Project cash profiles separating commitments, payments and asset commissioning
• Investment prioritisation using NPV, IRR, payback and strategic-fit criteria

Participants can prepare a short-term and annual cash forecast from operating drivers.

• 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data
• Days sales outstanding assumptions linked to customer terms and collections
• Inventory planning based on demand, lead time, safety stock and turnover
• Days payable outstanding analysis balancing liquidity, terms and supplier risk
• Indirect cash flow forecast reconciling profit movements with working capital
• Funding headroom calculated against facilities, covenants and liquidity thresholds

Participants can design driver-based models that update financial plans when assumptions change.

• Driver-based planning architecture separating inputs, calculations, outputs and controls
• Operational drivers selected using causality, availability, ownership and materiality
• Unit economics linking volumes, resource consumption, pricing and contribution margin
• Activity-based costing drivers applied to service, production and support activities
• Assumption dependencies mapped across revenue, capacity, cost and cash schedules
• Model change logs recording revisions, rationale, approver and financial impact

Participants can organise a controlled budget cycle with clear accountabilities and review gates.

• Top-down targets reconciled with bottom-up operating plans and resource requests
• Budget instructions specifying assumptions, templates, deadlines and approval responsibilities
• Submission workflows controlling version status, amendments and reviewer comments
• Budget challenge meetings focused on drivers, evidence, trade-offs and actions
• Reconciliation procedures between departmental budgets and consolidated financial statements
• Budget calendar milestones for preparation, review, approval and system loading

Participants can operate a rolling forecast cycle and assess forecast reliability.

• Rolling forecast horizons extending beyond year-end through defined planning windows
• Forecast refresh triggers based on actuals, market changes and operating events
• Forecast accuracy measured through bias, absolute error and error-pattern analysis
• Baseline forecasts compared with revised outlooks and approved budget positions
• Judgemental overrides documented with evidence, owner, expiry date and review
• Forecast review packs highlighting changes, uncertainty and required management decisions

Participants can diagnose significant performance variances and identify accountable actions.

• Variance bridges separating price, volume, mix, rate and efficiency effects
• Flexible budgets recalculated for actual activity levels before performance assessment
• Waterfall analysis presenting movement from plan through forecast to actual
• Root-cause analysis using five whys, issue trees and evidence logs
• Material variances prioritised by financial value, recurrence and decision relevance
• Corrective actions assigned with owner, deadline, expected benefit and status

Participants can assess profitability using customer, product and channel performance measures.

• Contribution margin analysis separating direct costs from fixed-cost recovery
• Customer profitability calculated using revenue, discounts, service costs and credit losses
• Product profitability reviewed through standard cost, actual cost and margin variance
• Cost-to-serve models allocating logistics, support, returns and account-management costs
• KPI trees linking strategic measures to operational and financial drivers
• Balanced scorecard measures aligned with financial, customer, process and capability objectives

Participants can test financial outcomes under alternative assumptions and risk events.

• Base, upside and downside scenarios built from explicit assumption sets
• Sensitivity tables testing price, volume, exchange rate and cost changes
• Break-even analysis identifying activity levels required to cover fixed costs
• Stress tests examining liquidity, covenant and margin effects under disruption
• Decision trees comparing alternatives, probabilities, cash consequences and strategic options
• Scenario narratives explaining triggers, leading indicators and management responses

Participants can use SAP Analytics Cloud concepts to structure planning views and reporting outputs.

• SAP Analytics Cloud planning models connecting dimensions, measures, versions and time
• Input forms designed for accountable planning submissions and assumption capture
• Data actions applying approved calculations, allocations and planning logic
• Stories presenting plan, forecast, actuals, variance and scenario comparisons
• Access controls separating preparer, reviewer, approver and report-consumer permissions
• Planning comments retaining explanatory context for adjustments and decisions

Participants can produce concise management reports that focus attention on decisions and actions.

• Management packs structured around performance, outlook, risks, decisions and actions
• KPI selection guided by relevance, controllability, timeliness and comparability
• Exception reporting focused on thresholds, trends, causes and accountable owners
• Chart selection matching variance, trend, composition and relationship questions
• Narrative commentary distinguishing observed facts, interpretation, risks and recommended action
• Report production calendars aligned with close, forecast and executive meeting dates

Participants can apply planning controls that protect data integrity, approval discipline and auditability.

• COSO control activities applied to planning inputs, calculations and approvals
• Segregation of duties across preparation, review, approval and system administration
• Version-control procedures preserving approved plans, changes and audit trails
• Assumption governance defining sources, challenge standards, ownership and refresh frequency
• Reconciliation controls between planning models, SAP actuals and published reports
• Control evidence retained through sign-offs, comments, logs and review records

Participants can prepare planning inputs that support group consolidation and entity-level accountability.

• Group planning structures aligning legal entities, management units and reporting currencies
• Intercompany revenue, cost, receivable and payable assumptions matched between entities
• Elimination planning for internal sales, balances, dividends and management charges
• Currency translation using transaction, closing and average exchange-rate assumptions
• Minority interest and ownership effects considered within group profit planning
• Consolidation review checks identifying mismatches, eliminations and unexplained movements

Participants can present financial analysis as focused recommendations for management action.

• Executive messages structured around decision, evidence, implication and recommended action
• Pyramid principle applied to concise financial presentations and written commentary
• Assumption challenge techniques distinguishing facts, estimates, risks and commitments
• Meeting agendas focused on decisions, trade-offs, owners and follow-up dates
• Difficult performance messages communicated with evidence, options and financial consequences
• Stakeholder-specific reporting tailored for executives, operational leaders and budget holders

Participants can build, review and present a complete integrated FP&A plan with forecast, scenarios and management recommendations.

• Case assumptions translated into revenue, cost, capital and working-capital drivers
• Integrated profit, balance sheet and cash flow plan constructed
• Rolling forecast updated using changed demand, cost and liquidity assumptions
• Variance bridge prepared between budget, forecast and actual performance
• Scenario analysis quantifying downside exposure, funding needs and response options
• Management pack presented with decisions, owners, timing and control requirements