Operational Finance Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Officers, 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-FM-124

Before you join: Participants should understand basic accounting terms, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, profit 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

Operational finance turns accounting information, operational data and commercial commitments into daily decisions on cash, cost, control and performance. Finance teams must explain margin movements, protect liquidity, challenge spending, manage working capital and provide managers with reports they can act upon. When these disciplines are weak, organisations face cash shortfalls, uncontrolled cost growth, unreliable forecasts, delayed collections and decisions based on incomplete information.

This course develops the practical finance management skills required to run and support finance operations. Participants build rolling cash forecasts, analyse working capital, prepare operating budgets, investigate variances, calculate product and service costs, assess capital expenditure proposals and strengthen financial controls. The course also examines management reporting, key performance indicators, financial risk and the relationship between finance, procurement, operations and commercial teams.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with worked financial examples, sector-based cases, group analysis, spreadsheet-based calculations, reporting simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect common situations in banks, public bodies, NGOs, manufacturing businesses and service organisations, including delayed receivables, procurement overspend, project cost overruns and funding restrictions. Participants leave with a practical operational finance toolkit containing reusable templates, calculation models, reporting formats and control checklists.

The course is suited to finance professionals moving into operational responsibility, budget holders who need stronger financial control, and managers whose decisions affect cash, cost or organisational performance. It is delivered over five instructor-led days, from 08:30 to 16:30, in classroom locations in more than 50 cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a 13-week rolling cash forecast from operational cash-flow drivers
  • Analyse working capital using receivables, inventory and payables metrics
  • Prepare an operating budget linked to volume, cost and service assumptions
  • Investigate budget variances using price, volume, mix and efficiency analysis
  • Calculate product, service and project costs using cost allocation methods
  • Appraise capital expenditure proposals using NPV, IRR and payback
  • Design management reports using KPIs, variance commentary and action tracking
  • Strengthen financial controls using segregation of duties, approval limits and reconciliations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce cash forecasts that identify funding gaps before payment pressure arises
  • Explain budget variances with evidence-based operational and financial commentary
  • Challenge supplier, staffing and project cost assumptions with structured analysis
  • Present financial performance to non-finance managers using relevant KPIs
  • Assess investment proposals using accepted financial appraisal measures

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of cash shortfalls, collection delays and payment pressures
  • Tighter budget accountability through clear variance ownership and action tracking
  • Reduced working capital tied up in receivables, inventory and inefficient payment cycles
  • Better capital allocation through consistent investment appraisal and post-investment review
  • Stronger protection against error, unauthorised spending and unsupported adjustments

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can interpret core financial information and connect operational decisions to financial results.

  • Operating finance responsibilities across cash, cost, control and performance reporting
  • Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement relationships
  • Accrual accounting compared with cash-based operational decision information
  • Revenue, gross margin and operating margin drivers explained
  • Financial calendars, close timetables and management reporting cycles
  • Tracing operational transactions from source documents to financial statements

Participants can prepare and maintain a short-term cash forecast using operational data.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data
  • Direct cash forecasting method for weekly liquidity management
  • Cash conversion cycle measured through receivables, inventory and payables
  • Forecast assumptions documented with owners, dates and confidence ratings
  • Scenario analysis for delayed receipts, demand changes and cost shocks
  • Daily cash position reconciled against bank balances and payment commitments

Participants can diagnose working-capital pressures and select actions to improve cash conversion.

  • Days sales outstanding calculated from receivables and credit sales
  • Aged receivables reports prioritised by value, delinquency and dispute status
  • Credit control workflow from customer onboarding through collection escalation
  • Inventory turnover and days inventory outstanding interpreted for cash impact
  • Supplier payment terms assessed against cash needs and relationship risks
  • Working capital dashboard built using trend, target and exception indicators

Participants can prepare operating budgets and revise forecasts from changing business assumptions.

  • Driver-based budgeting links volumes, headcount, rates and unit costs
  • Fixed, variable and semi-variable costs classified for planning
  • Zero-based budgeting used to challenge discretionary expenditure assumptions
  • Rolling forecasts updated for actual results and revised operating drivers
  • Budget phasing aligns annual plans with monthly delivery schedules
  • Commitment accounting captures purchase orders before supplier invoices arrive

Participants can calculate relevant costs and analyse the operational drivers of margin.

  • Cost centres assigned clear accountability for controllable expenditure
  • Direct and indirect costs distinguished for products and services
  • Activity-based costing allocates overhead using measurable cost drivers
  • Contribution margin calculated for pricing, volume and product decisions
  • Break-even analysis tests sales volumes against fixed-cost commitments
  • Standard costing compares expected resource usage with actual consumption

Participants can investigate variances and prepare management reports that prompt action.

  • Price, volume, mix and efficiency variances separated systematically
  • Actual-versus-budget reports distinguish timing differences from permanent movements
  • Root cause analysis links financial variances to operational evidence
  • KPI trees connect strategic objectives with operational performance measures
  • Management commentary states variance, cause, impact, action and owner
  • Traffic-light reporting applies defined thresholds without masking material exceptions

Participants can apply finance controls to purchasing decisions, commitments and supplier expenditure.

  • Purchase-to-pay controls connect requisitions, approvals, orders, receipts and invoices
  • Three-way matching verifies purchase order, goods receipt and supplier invoice
  • Spend analysis categorises suppliers, contracts, transactions and unmanaged expenditure
  • Total cost of ownership compares acquisition, operating, maintenance and disposal costs
  • Approval matrices set authority limits by value, category and risk
  • Contract payment schedules aligned with deliverables, acceptance and retention terms

Participants can assess investment proposals using financial appraisal and decision criteria.

  • Net present value discounts projected cash flows using required returns
  • Internal rate of return compared with hurdle rates carefully
  • Payback period highlights liquidity exposure and capital recovery timing
  • Sensitivity analysis tests volumes, prices, costs and discount rates
  • Business cases separate quantifiable benefits from assumptions and non-financial factors
  • Post-investment reviews compare approved forecasts with realised benefits

Participants can identify control weaknesses and specify practical control responses for finance operations.

  • COSO internal control components applied to operational finance processes
  • Segregation of duties reduces fraud, error and unauthorised transactions
  • Bank, supplier and balance-sheet reconciliations identify unsupported balances
  • Control self-assessments document risks, controls, evidence and remediation owners
  • Exception reporting focuses management attention on unusual transactions and thresholds
  • Audit trails retain approvals, changes, supporting documents and review evidence

Participants can structure finance recommendations and plan targeted improvements to operational finance routines.

  • Finance business partnering frames decisions around options, trade-offs and evidence
  • Decision papers state recommendation, financial impact, risk and required approval
  • Dashboard design prioritises decision-relevant KPIs over excessive data
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies report users, information needs and decision rights
  • Monthly finance review agendas track actions, deadlines, owners and outcomes
  • Ninety-day application plans sequence forecast, control and reporting improvements

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

What you take back to work

  1. 13-week rolling cash forecast template
  2. Working capital diagnostic dashboard
  3. Driver-based operating budget model
  4. Variance analysis and management commentary template
  5. Capital investment appraisal model
  6. Operational finance control checklist

Who should attend

  • Finance Officers — need practical methods for controlling cash, budgets and reporting
  • Finance Managers — oversee operational finance processes and management decision support
  • Management Accountants — translate operational performance into cost, margin and variance insights
  • Budget Holders — control departmental spending and explain financial performance
  • Operations Managers — make decisions affecting inventory, suppliers, staffing and service costs
  • Project Managers — monitor project budgets, commitments, forecasts and cost recovery

Skills and tools covered

Cash flow forecastingWorking capital analysisBudget variance analysisCost managementCapital investment appraisalFinancial control design

Tools and standards

COSO Internal Control Framework, 13-week rolling cash forecast, Activity-based costing, Net present value

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods and calculations, followed by financial cases, group exercises and facilitated discussion. Participants interpret cash-flow data, build forecast assumptions, investigate variance reports, assess investment cases and identify control weaknesses. Simulations require participants to make decisions from incomplete operational information and explain recommendations to managers. The final application-planning session converts course methods into priorities for participants’ own finance processes, reports and control routines.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic accounting terms, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, profit and cash flow. Experience preparing budgets, reviewing financial reports, approving expenditure or working with finance teams is useful. Participants should be comfortable using spreadsheets for simple calculations and reviewing tables of financial data. Prior study of accounting standards, corporate finance or advanced spreadsheet functions is not required. The course explains the calculations used and focuses on operational decisions rather than external financial reporting or specialist treasury activity.

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 familiarity with basic accounting terms and routine financial information. They do not need formal accounting qualifications, advanced corporate finance knowledge or prior experience with investment appraisal.

Participants should bring a laptop if attending in person, along with a calculator if preferred. They may also bring anonymised budget reports, cash forecasts or process issues they want to examine during application planning.

The course suits finance officers, finance managers, management accountants, budget holders, operations managers and project managers. It is particularly useful for people responsible for cash, costs, forecasts, procurement commitments or financial reporting.

Financial accounting courses focus mainly on external reporting, accounting standards and financial statements. This course concentrates on internal operational decisions, including cash forecasting, budgeting, cost control, working capital and management reporting.

Participants can use the templates and methods to improve a current cash forecast, investigate a budget variance, review supplier spend or strengthen an approval process. The application plan helps identify priority actions for the first 90 days after the course.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided across ten sequenced modules covering financial information, cash, working capital, budgets, costs, reporting, controls and decision support.

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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