Eliminate the Frustration of Budget Planning and Number Crunching
There’s no getting around the fact that budgets are an essential piece of your organization’s financial stability and success. And no matter how bad we want it, they won’t go away. This workshop is specifically designed to show you when the process of budgeting should start, what you need to begin, and what information you must have.

Building Budgeting Skills is the perfect one-day workshop for getting the hands-on skills you need to create sound, functional budgets with ease and less stress. You’ll learn how to simplify the entire process and make your budget an easy-to-use tool that will help you make better decisions all year long.

You’ll leave this workshop with a complete toolbox of budgeting skills, including:

• How to ensure your budget accomplishes what you want
• Troubleshooting techniques that help you avoid midyear glitches
• Techniques for building a budget that gets approved – every time!
• Checklists, worksheets, formulas, and a glossary of budget terms
• And so much more!

You’ll walk away with the skills you need to create, implement, and monitor budgets of any kind. You’ll be more confident when it comes to managing the financial aspects of your job, and you’ll have a far greater impact on your organization’s financial success.

Master the “Foreign” Language of Budgeting with Ease
Have you ever gone to the “financial people” of your organization with a budget issue and left with more questions than you came with? You’re not alone. Understanding the terms and practices behind budgeting is a daunting task. This workshop is led by a financial expert who presents real-world information in a fun, dynamic, practical style using language you can understand! Plus, you’ll leave with a glossary of budgeting terms you can use time and again!

Boost Your Retention and Confidence with Hands-on Practice
If attending a workshop on budgeting sounds as interesting as creating a budget, then you’re in for a real surprise! This isn’t your standard run-of-the-mill lecture. You’ll get hands-on practice with real-world exercises for creating budgets – in a comfortable learning atmosphere. Most importantly, your instructor is there to give you one-on-one feedback and assistance. You’ll leave with the solid, practiced, and perfected skills of creating and implementing any budget. Don’t forget your calculator!

Building Budgeting Skills is an Investment You Can’t Afford to Miss
Budgets are essential to every organization – that’s why understanding and implementing effective budgets is so important. Your days of crossing your fingers and hoping you come in under budget are gone. Building Budgeting Skills puts you in full control of your department and your organization’s financial success. Don’t wait until you’re in crisis mode – enroll today!

1. Improve your ability to accurately project expenses.
2. Build a budget that glides through approval channels without a hitch.
3. Discover steps for measuring actual progress against your budget.
4. Get back on track if you’ve wandered off course.
5. Justify expenditures using the right logic and language.
6. Learn critical responses that address and arrest budget variances.
7. Discover prebudgeting troubleshooting techniques that help you avoid ugly midyear glitches.
8. Learn which type of budget you need and how to ensure it covers all the bases.
9. Develop the ability to forecast profits that might go unnoticed.
10. Long run vs. short run: Learn what you need to know about both before you budget.
11. Learn which items MUST be figured into your budget, whether it’s from scratch or a pre-approved format.
12. Take home checklists, worksheets, and formulas that would take years to collect on your own.

So, if you’re a …

• Business owner
• Manager
• Supervisor
• Administrator
• President
• Committee chairperson
• Department head
• Entrepreneur
• Purchasing decision maker
• Key player on any budgeted team

… this workshop is perfect for you!

• The 10 key benefits of good budgeting
• 5 essential elements of planning any viable budget
• Know your organization’s budget “philosophy” and how to shape your budget accordingly.
• The budget preparation phase: step-by-step illustrations you’ll use for years
• Monitoring the approved budget: Do more than just “live with it”… succeed with it!

Administering a Budget

• The income statement: What does it tell you about the past … the future? Learn how it can pinpoint organizational weaknesses.
• The balance sheet budget: A thermometer you’ll use to take the “success temperature” of your department or organization.
• The capital expenditure budget: Just how practical are your plans for expansion, research and development, new personnel?
• The cash budget: Will cash really flow as expected?
• Spot the key problems and opportunities every budgeting process uncovers.

Essential Budgeting Tools

• Unit-cost budgeting: ideal for operations- oriented environments
• Fixed-cost budgeting: the tool budget- builders reach for most often
• Review the methods available to address your unique budgeting challenges.
• Zero-based budgeting: essential for justifying proposed expenditures from the ground up

Building the Budget

• Recognize the proper elements for capitalization.
• Examine capital expenditure requests.
• Discover 3 important ways to economically evaluate capital expenditures.
• Learn how to budget and control general and administrative expenses.
• Develop unit indicators for budget preparation and control.
• Identify overhead and determine proper allocation methods.

Budget Development

• “Cash” vs. “accrual” accounting – two sides of the same valuable coin
• Take the all-important first step following approval of your budget.
• Use a basic accounting technology to properly compare cash inflow and outflow.
• Avoid 3 typical pitfalls in consistently applying accounting principles to your budget.

Budget Variances

• Are the alleged variances within your control? The right perspective will make the difference.
• Learn where to look first for variance factors hardest to find.
• Know when and how your budget is warning you of outside interference.
• Get tips on how to respond to requests for variance explanations.

Monitoring the Budget

• Understand the difference between fixed and variable costs using a simple but effective illustration.
• Some costs simply can’t be controlled – recognize them and budget accurately in spite of them.
• Uncover indirect costs no matter how well they are hidden.
• Learn and use the unit-cost concept immediately and effectively.
• Establish and track monthly targets within your annual budget.

Analyzing Budget “Types”

• The sales budget: forecasting sales, preparing projections, analyzing budget responsibility and reports
• How to prepare a production budget
• How to prepare a manufacturing budget including: budgeting for raw materials, direct labor and overhead
• How to plan and prepare a research and development budget
• Budgeting terms made simple: a glossary of words you’ll use again and again