Objectives
To position budgetary control in the administrative process. To understand the function of a budget as a management tool. To understand activity-based budgets, cost drivers, program budgets and zero-base budgets. To learn how to manage the budget process and assess the related costs and benefits. To understand project management. To assess the implications of using information technologies. To understand the basic principles of short- and medium-term forecasts and the different types of budgetary documents. To know how to use a budget for evaluating performance. To be able to compare results with forecasts and perform a detailed variance analysis. To have an overall understanding of a balanced scorecard.
Contents
The different aspects and functioning of budgetary control; budget control versus strategic control. Budgets as a planning, communication, coordination and control tool; partners' roles in drawing up budgets; budgetary objectives and the underlying assumptions. Types of budgets and the related concepts. The uncertainty and obsolescence of budgets; cost behaviours; time horizons. The various stages of the budget process, specific tasks, the roles of the various stakeholders, budget process management tools. The benefits and costs of the budget process. Project management and its tools (i.e. Gantt charts, the Pert method). The use of computer tools in the budget process: implications, advantages, risks, optimization strategies and business process reevaluation. Information technologies in the budget process. Budget forecasts: basic principles, concepts, objective and subjective approaches, diverse quantitative analysis methods, short and medium-term forecasts. The preparation of operating, investment, financing and cash budgets; the preparation of budgeted statements of manufacturing, results and retained earnings, and the budgeted balance sheet. Implementation of a performance evaluation system: investment, profit, income, cost and activity centres; the characteristics of a good performance measure. Comparison of forecasts with results; methods for analyzing price, volume-mix and variable and fixed overhead variances. Components and use of scorecards; integration of forecasts into scorecards.