Planning and Forecasting Organizational Expenses

Develop more accurate budgets by minimizing the effects of unexpected events.This seminar shows you how to effectively research the components that will affect expenses in the future. The emphasis is not on how to compare budgets to actuals for variances, but how to accurately predict costs, whether for budgets, projects or new product development. You’ll learn best practices for researching inflation, demand and the overall pricing of expenses. In addition, you’ll discover how you can forecast unforeseen conditions. Get these valuable skills and you’ll be better equipped to minimize the impact of unexpected and unforeseen expenses.

How You Will Benefit

• Identify and evaluate past, present and future costs
• Understand capital expenditures and purchase requests
• Prioritize cost-reduction efforts
• Analyze the impact of decisions on shareholder return and ROI
• Identify and manage risks
• Understand how to use budgets and forecasts more effectively

What You Will Cover

Forecasting Future Expenses

• Understanding expenses and forecasting
• Defining needs, goals and objectives
• Challenges and obstacles
• Developing an expense forecast
• Integrating budgeting, planning and forecasting

Estimating Techniques

• How to research cost data
• Using the internet to identify hidden costs
• Estimating future expenses
• Variance reporting for actual, budget and forecast: capital expenditures
• Forecasting business needs
• Make vs. buy determinations
• Creating requests for capital expenditures

Process Improvement

• Material and cost of sales
• Minimizing inventory
• Metrics for inventory control
• Material utilization

Controlling Overhead Costs

• General overhead expenses
• Determining how direct and indirect costs can uncover major cost savings opportunities
• Sales expenses

Working with Labor Costs

• Direct vs. indirect costing
• Controlling growth or reductions
• Developing time standards
• Workflow optimization
• Minimizing supplier costs

Risk Management

• Analyzing risks
• Risk reduction strategies

Who Should Attend

Finance executives, managers and administrators who are under pressure to control and estimate expenses, as well as all finance professionals who need a solid understanding of how to implement an effective expense-control strategy.

Special Feature

Please bring a laptop equipped with Excel 2010 (earlier versions are acceptable) to this seminar and a sample of your working forecasts and/or budgets.