Building an Organizational Budget

Name: Building an Organizational Budget
Rating: 3.9 (686 reviews)

Design program budgets from a simplified approach along with conceptual understandings.

Created byAngel Radcliffe MBA, CFEI

Last updated 11/2021

English

What you'll learn

Ensure proper allocation of various budgets within a program
Streamline and transform budgeting processes within the organization
Analyze & determine the budgeting concept and approach appropriate for your project /organization
Plan, review and account for all dollars of budget allocation /align with cost management protocols
Understand the importance of team communication and implementation of financial protocols within budgeting methods
Increase accountability and establish a regular performance management process

Course content

6 sections • 23 lectures • 56m total length

Introduction to Building an Organizational Budget2:29
Introduction of the topic and course welcome
What is Organizational Budgeting ?2:46
Explore four budgeting methods: zero-based, incremental, activity-based, and value proposition budgeting for programs and projects. Learn to prepare written estimates of a department’s financial performance and assess each method’s advantages.
Who Needs to Know How to Budget?4:11
Understand how budgets influence every department, apply four major budgeting areas to your project budget, and coordinate with accounting on fiscal year timing.
Communication Amongst Teams When Budgeting1:20
Learn to communicate the budget across teams and cross-work streams, clarifying who, what, when, and where, while aligning internal policies and stakeholders with financials.

Incremental Budgeting6:02
Learn incremental budgeting, adjusting the current budget for inflation with examples like rent and lumber costs; discover its simplicity and funding stability, drawbacks like wasteful spending and neglecting immediate changes.
Value Proposition Budgeting5:08
Explore value proposition budgeting as a value-first approach to cost justification, where every expense is questioned for its value to stakeholders, departments, and the company.
Activity-Based Budgeting3:55
Explore activity-based budgeting, a top-down approach that links outputs to required activities and their costs, and examine advantages, disadvantages, and practical steps.
CPE Review Quiz: Section 2

Introduction to Zero-Based Budgeting1:24
Start from scratch each year with zero-based budgeting, justify every expense, avoid automatic approvals, and align costs with desired outcomes to achieve cost savings, growth, and strategic initiatives.
Why Zero-Based Budgeting?2:15
Explore zero-based budgeting as a cost-management approach that justifies every expense, analyzes spending, avoids budget inflation, and improves communication while allocating resources and eliminating waste for efficiency.
Zero-Based Budgeting in Action1:27
Analyze how Walgreens used zero-based budgeting to cut at least one billion in costs over three years by reviewing every expense, consolidating warehouses, closing stores, and adopting technology.
Activity: Is Zero-Based Budgeting Right For Your Project1:18
Explore zero-based budgeting as a method to reduce spending and align resources with the company's vision, using a decision tree to determine if ZBB fits your project.
Zero-Based Budgeting Best Practices1:23
Apply zero-based budgeting with clear, organization-wide communication and regional micro sessions to build buy-in. Identify quick wins and use digital technology to reduce costs and improve metrics.
Benefits of Zero-Based Budgeting1:50
Explore zero-based budgeting benefits: cost reductions of 10–25%, improved communication, waste elimination, and goal-aligned resource allocation across departments and projects.
CPE Review Quiz: Section 3

Steps for Implementing Zero-Based Budgeting1:47
Implement zero-based budgeting by building the budget from scratch and evaluating costs. Justify every item, streamline activities with automation, and execute with clear communication and defined stakeholder roles.
Activity: Cost Estimation in Zero-Based Budgeting1:32
Learn to estimate costs in zero-based budgeting by categorizing expenses into activity groups using the cost estimator sheet, allocating budgets, and tracking actuals to identify variances.
Activity: Business Activity Screener2:13
Use a business activity screener to detail project activities by category, assign owners and resources, align with goals, and define KPIs via the activity template.
Activity: Determine Your Cost Drivers0:45
Apply the zero-based budgeting activity decision tree to determine cost drivers by evaluating each activity and deciding to keep or remove it; compare with your template to reveal savings.
Activity: Developing the Zero-Based Budgeting Proposal3:57
Develop a zero-based budgeting proposal by outlining executive summary, objectives for business units and functions, and allocations; identify savings and present KPIs and cost data to leadership for approval.
CPE Review Quiz: Section 4

Why Communication is Important in Budgeting0:45
Communicate clearly to align team members, leadership, corporate accounting, project managers, and stakeholders in the corporate budgeting process, and monitor the financials to address funding needs or shortfalls.
How Budgets Navigate Communication3:13
Use the budget as a conversation starter, outlining goals, justification, action plan, execution, and results to persuade stakeholders, showcase under-budget progress, and align with fiscal-year timing and finance input.
Identify Key Stakeholders for Communication - The Follow Up & Follow Through2:32
Identify key stakeholders and map inputs and outputs to ensure ongoing communication, updates, and access to project documents, meetings, and leadership engagement throughout the budget program.
Activity: Communication2:12
Identify project stakeholders and map direct and indirect inputs, outputs, and the inbound and outbound flow to illuminate impacts.
CPE Review Quiz: Section 5

Requirements

No accounting experience needed
Business acumen suggested
Understanding & use of basic Microsoft Office components

Description

If you are a colleague who is often chosen to lead your teams projects without much guidance, this course is most likely for you.

This course is for anyone wanting to understand and develop in business, budgeting, and/or management. Whether you are a Manager, Project Manager, Product Owner, beginner, or aligned to any mid-level leadership role, everyone plays a part in a project budget at one time or another.

I created this course filled with actionable lessons and insights from my 14 years of experience in Finance & Technology program management.

In my experience of being a member of ample projects, I often found the projects were running short on the budget and in turn caused several project delays. Many times, resource allocation for projects are not properly planned so costs for vendors/contractors often aren’t accounted for and teams run out of money for projects. (New contracts needed to be signed, new resources brought on, or not enough money to maintain the current contract resources)

So many company leaders are unaware of the different types of budgets and which to use for their project, some do not have an understanding of where to start in creating a budget or how to communicate with their team.

This course is a simplified approach to understanding how to create, manage and strategize a variety of budgets in the workplace or in your business. In this course, you will learn the 4 major types of organizational budgets which can be used for individual programs/projects or for an entire company. Alongside the conceptual understanding of organizational budgeting, is learning how to integrate communication aspects and engage your team and stakeholders, which is also discussed in this course. The best thing about this course, zero accounting experience is required.

This course is complete with 4 sections of impactful modules filled with activities that anyone can implement through taking the course.

Specifics of what is covered

Understanding Organizational Budgeting
A deep dive into the 4 major types of Organizational Budgets (Incremental Budgeting, Activity-Based Budgeting, Value Proposition Budgeting, and Zero-Based Budgeting)
Analyzing and identifying your team's stakeholders
Executing your communication strategy with your teams
Activity mapping for your budget along with budget allocation
Distinguishing differences in the choice of budgets and how to choose a proper budget
Evaluating the appropriate budget for your team
Implementing various budget strategies
Developing a budget proposal
Recognizing best practices in budgeting

This course is meant to empower you in your leadership process along with providing actionable plans that you can apply to your current or future projects.

What are you waiting for? Enroll today to gain skills needed for your next project which may require you to manage or propose a budget.

CPE (Continuing Professional Education)

Learning Objectives

Ensure proper allocation of various budgets within a program
Streamline and transform budgeting processes within the organization
Analyze & determine the budgeting concept and approach appropriate for your project /organization
Plan, review and account for all dollars of budget allocation /align with cost management protocols
Understand the importance of team communication and implementation of financial protocols within budgeting methods
Increase accountability and establish a regular performance management process

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Who this course is for:

Beginner to mid-level leadership (Managers, Product Owners, Project Managers, etc.) who need to create a budget for their projects or programs

Building an Organizational Budget

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Welcome4 lectures • 11min

Types of Budgeting3 lectures • 15min

Zero-Based Budgeting6 lectures • 10min

Implementing Zero-Based Budgeting5 lectures • 10min

Communication Amongst Teams When Budgeting4 lectures • 9min

Conclusion1 lecture • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: