Performance Budgeting and Financial Planning Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Managers, Financial Analysts and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-095

Before you join: Participants should understand basic financial statements, common cost categories, budget terminology and simple spreadsheet calculations.

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

Performance budgeting connects money, operational activity and intended results. Finance teams and budget holders must produce plans that are credible, affordable and linked to strategic priorities, while responding quickly when demand, costs, funding or market conditions change. Weak budgeting processes often produce negotiated spending totals, late forecasts, unclear ownership and performance reports that explain little about whether resources are delivering results.

This course develops the practical methods used to plan, budget, forecast and manage performance. Participants examine the planning cycle, translate strategic goals into financial targets, build driver-based budgets, assess cost behaviour, prepare rolling forecasts and integrate operating, capital and cash plans. They also learn to use variance analysis, key performance indicators, Balanced Scorecard measures and management reporting to support timely decisions. The course addresses governance, budget-holder accountability, scenario planning and the treatment of uncertainty.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with financial cases, small-group analysis, budget simulations and guided use of planning templates. Cases reflect common decisions in government departments, banks, NGOs, service businesses and operating units: funding allocation, headcount planning, capital proposals, cost control and recovery plans. Participants leave with a practical performance budgeting toolkit containing reusable templates, reporting structures and an action plan for improving their own planning process.

The course suits finance professionals and managers who contribute to budgets, forecasts or performance reviews. It is particularly useful where finance must challenge assumptions constructively, improve forecast reliability and give senior leaders a clearer view of financial and operational performance.

What you will be able to do

  • Translate strategic objectives into financial targets, operational drivers and accountable budget lines
  • Construct driver-based operating, capital and cash budgets using documented planning assumptions
  • Apply zero-based budgeting and activity-based costing to challenge expenditure requirements
  • Prepare rolling forecasts, scenario analyses and sensitivity tests for changing business conditions
  • Analyse budget variances using price, volume, mix, efficiency and timing drivers
  • Design KPIs and Balanced Scorecard measures linked to financial and service outcomes
  • Produce management reports that explain performance, risks, decisions and corrective actions
  • Create a practical improvement plan for a performance budgeting cycle

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Build credible budgets from operational assumptions rather than prior-year spending
  • Challenge forecast submissions using clear drivers, evidence and sensitivity analysis
  • Explain financial variances confidently to senior managers and budget holders
  • Present performance reports that connect spending, activity and measurable results
  • Apply a structured plan to improve a planning cycle after returning to work

For your organisation

  • Improved budget quality through documented assumptions, drivers and ownership
  • Earlier identification of funding gaps, cost pressures and delivery risks
  • More reliable forecasts for cash, staffing, expenditure and investment decisions
  • Clearer links between resource allocation, service outputs and strategic priorities
  • Better management challenge through consistent variance analysis and performance reporting

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how planning, budgeting and forecasting support performance management and accountability.

  • Planning, budgeting and forecasting roles within the performance management cycle
  • Strategic objectives translated into financial targets, drivers and accountability
  • Annual budget, rolling forecast and long-range plan distinctions
  • Operating, capital and cash budgets linked through integrated assumptions
  • Budget calendar design: milestones, submissions, challenge sessions and approvals
  • Finance business-partner responsibilities, budget-holder accountabilities and governance rights

Participants can convert strategic priorities into measurable financial and operational planning targets.

  • Strategy maps connecting mission, outcomes, processes, capabilities and financial resources
  • Balanced Scorecard perspectives adapted for public, commercial and mission-led entities
  • SMART targets defined with baselines, ownership, thresholds and reporting frequency
  • Outcome, output, efficiency and input measures distinguished for planning purposes
  • Target cascades aligning corporate priorities with departmental budget responsibilities
  • Resource allocation criteria based on priorities, demand, risk and affordability

Participants can build an operating budget from volume, price, productivity and capacity drivers.

  • Driver-based budgeting using demand volumes, staffing ratios and unit costs
  • Revenue plans built from customer volumes, prices, yields and collection rates
  • Workforce budgets modelled through headcount, grades, vacancies and payroll assumptions
  • Fixed, variable, stepped and semi-variable costs classified for budget planning
  • Unit-cost analysis linking service volumes to resource requirements
  • Assumption registers recording source data, owners, confidence and review dates

Participants can assess cost structures and select suitable methods for allocating constrained resources.

  • Activity-based costing assigns overheads through activities, cost pools and drivers
  • Zero-based budgeting tests expenditure needs without relying on prior allocations
  • Incremental budgeting assessed against cost pressures, priorities and service commitments
  • Cost-benefit analysis compares financial costs, benefits, risks and alternatives
  • Contribution analysis distinguishes profitable activities from loss-making service lines
  • Resource allocation scenarios compare minimum, expected and growth funding cases

Participants can evaluate capital proposals and incorporate approved investments into financial plans.

  • Capital expenditure separated from operating expenditure using accounting treatment
  • Business cases structured around need, options, costs, benefits and risks
  • Net present value calculated from discounted cash flows and hurdle rates
  • Internal rate of return interpreted alongside payback and strategic criteria
  • Whole-life costing includes acquisition, maintenance, replacement and disposal costs
  • Capital programme phasing aligned with cash availability and delivery milestones

Participants can prepare short-term cash forecasts and identify key working-capital pressures.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data
  • Cash conversion cycle analysed through receivables, inventory and payables days
  • Collection assumptions tested against ageing reports, contracts and payment patterns
  • Payment schedules aligned with supplier terms, tax dates and payroll cycles
  • Liquidity scenarios model delayed receipts, demand shocks and unexpected expenditure
  • Cash controls define forecast ownership, update frequency and escalation thresholds

Participants can produce rolling forecasts and assess the financial effect of uncertain assumptions.

  • Rolling forecasts update outlooks using actual results and revised drivers
  • Forecast bias assessed by comparing prior estimates with actual outcomes
  • Scenario planning develops base, upside and downside financial cases
  • Sensitivity analysis quantifies effects of changes in critical assumptions
  • Monte Carlo simulation principles introduced for high-uncertainty planning decisions
  • Risk registers connect financial exposures, controls, owners and contingency actions

Participants can diagnose budget variances and recommend timely corrective actions.

  • Actual-versus-budget reports separate favourable and adverse performance movements
  • Price, volume, mix, efficiency and timing variances identified systematically
  • Flexible budgets restate planned costs using actual activity volumes
  • Root-cause analysis distinguishes one-off events from recurring performance issues
  • Materiality thresholds focus management attention on significant financial movements
  • Corrective action logs assign owners, deadlines, expected savings and follow-up

Participants can design performance reports that support management review and resource decisions.

  • Management dashboards combine financial, operational, risk and outcome indicators
  • KPI definitions specify formulas, data sources, owners and reporting cadence
  • Traffic-light reporting uses thresholds without concealing material underlying trends
  • Variance narratives explain causes, impacts, actions and residual decision requirements
  • Forecast-to-year-end positions compared with approved budgets and prior forecasts
  • Management review packs highlight decisions, trade-offs and escalation requirements

Participants can establish planning governance and prepare an improvement plan for their budgeting process.

  • Budget governance defines approval limits, delegated authority and audit trails
  • Challenge sessions test assumptions, affordability, delivery capacity and risk exposure
  • Version control maintains traceable changes to plans, forecasts and submissions
  • Planning calendars sequence data collection, review meetings and decision gates
  • Post-budget reviews capture forecast accuracy, process delays and control weaknesses
  • Application plans prioritise immediate improvements, owners, milestones and success measures

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

What you take back to work

  1. Driver-based budget template
  2. Planning assumptions register
  3. 13-week cash forecast model
  4. Rolling forecast and scenario template
  5. Variance analysis checklist
  6. Performance budgeting improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Finance Managers — responsible for planning cycles, forecasts and management reporting
  • Financial Analysts — preparing budgets, analysing variances and advising decision makers
  • Budget Holders — accountable for spending plans, delivery targets and corrective action
  • Management Accountants — linking operational drivers, costs and performance measures
  • Programme and Project Managers — planning resources, funding requirements and delivery results
  • Senior Operational Managers — using financial evidence to manage services and priorities

Skills and tools covered

Driver-based budgetingRolling forecastingVariance analysisPerformance measurementScenario planningManagement reporting

Tools and standards

Balanced Scorecard, Activity-Based Costing, Zero-Based Budgeting, Monte Carlo Simulation

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by financial cases, group analysis and structured budget simulations. Participants work with planning assumptions, cost data, forecast scenarios and performance reports similar to those used by finance and operational teams. Facilitated discussions examine common tensions between finance, programme teams and budget holders. Individual application planning helps participants adapt the templates, governance practices and reporting methods to their own planning responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic financial statements, common cost categories, budget terminology and simple spreadsheet calculations. Experience preparing, reviewing or managing a departmental budget, forecast or business plan is helpful. Participants should be comfortable interpreting income, expenditure, cash flow and variance reports. The course does not require an accounting qualification, advanced financial modelling skills or specialist planning-system experience. It is suitable for finance professionals and non-finance managers who already work with financial information and need stronger planning and performance-management methods.

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 a working understanding of basic budgets, costs and financial reports. They do not need an accounting qualification or advanced spreadsheet modelling experience.

Participants should bring a laptop if possible and may bring a current budget, forecast format or performance report with sensitive information removed. Course templates and case materials are provided.

It is designed for finance managers, analysts, management accountants, budget holders and operational managers involved in planning or performance review. It is suitable for public, private and not-for-profit organisations.

Basic budgeting courses focus mainly on preparing annual expenditure plans. This course also covers strategic target setting, driver-based planning, rolling forecasts, cash planning, performance measures and management action.

Participants leave with templates for budgets, assumptions, cash forecasts, scenarios and variance review. The final module helps them identify process changes they can introduce in their next planning or forecasting cycle.

The five days provide about 32.5 contact hours, usually from 08:30 to 16:30. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group work, simulations, review discussions 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

Related courses in Financial Management