Corporate Finance #3 Forecasting & Budgeting
What you'll learn
- Define the concept of financial forecasting and explain its importance in financial planning.
- Apply forecasting techniques to make accurate projections of future financial performance.
- Analyze past financial statements to identify relevant data for forecasting and budgeting purposes.
- Utilize Microsoft Excel to create and manipulate financial models for forecasting and budgeting.
- Construct sales projections as a foundation for other budgeting components.
- Develop a production plan based on sales projections to optimize resource allocation.
- Prepare a capital budget by evaluating investment opportunities and estimating future cash flows.
- Create a cash budget to ensure adequate cash flow management and liquidity.
- Construct a budgeted income statement to assess projected financial performance.
- Develop a projected balance sheet to evaluate the expected financial position at the end of the budgeted period.
Requirements
- Basic understanding of financial statements, including familiarity with balance sheets, income statements, and statement of cash flows.
- Access to a computer or laptop with internet connectivity to access course materials and complete practice exercises.
- Eagerness to learn and apply financial forecasting and budgeting techniques in practical scenarios.
- Openness to hands-on practice and willingness to work with Microsoft Excel or similar software to create financial models and projections.
- Curiosity and a desire to enhance financial planning skills and make informed decisions based on accurate projections.
Description
In this comprehensive course, we will delve into the fundamental concepts of forecasting and budgeting from a finance perspective, equipping you with the skills to make informed financial decisions based on future projections.
Throughout the course, we will provide numerous example problems, including both presentation-based scenarios and hands-on exercises using Microsoft Excel worksheets. Each Excel worksheet problem will be accompanied by a downloadable worksheet with step-by-step instructional videos. The worksheets will include at least two tabs—one with the answer and the other preformatted to facilitate a structured, interactive learning experience.
To effectively forecast and budget, we begin by using past financial statements as a starting point. These statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows, provide valuable insights into historical performance. From there, we consider various changes and factors that may impact the future, such as planned initiatives and shifts in the economy and business environment.
In constructing our budgets, we follow a systematic order, starting with sales projections as the foundation for other projections. We then progress to the production plan, capital budget, cash budget, and budgeted income statement. The budgeted income statement serves as our primary performance statement, guiding financial decision-making.
Moreover, we explore the process of creating a projected balance sheet—a statement that represents our expected financial position at the end of the budgeted time frame. By integrating projected income statements and beginning balance sheets, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of future financial expectations.
Join us on this dynamic journey to master forecasting and budgeting in finance. Enroll today to develop practical skills in financial planning, learn effective forecasting techniques, and gain proficiency in budgeting strategies. By the end of the course, you will be equipped to make informed financial decisions based on sound projections and navigate the future with confidence.
Who this course is for:
- Finance professionals and analysts who want to enhance their financial forecasting and budgeting skills to make more accurate projections and informed financial decisions.
- Accounting professionals seeking to expand their knowledge and capabilities in financial planning and budgeting processes.
- Business owners and entrepreneurs who want to develop the skills to create effective financial forecasts and budgets for their organizations.
- Financial managers and executives involved in financial planning and decision-making, looking to improve their proficiency in forecasting and budgeting techniques.
- Students pursuing degrees or certifications in finance, accounting, or related fields, who want to gain practical skills in financial forecasting and budgeting.
- Anyone with an interest in financial forecasting and budgeting, seeking to understand the techniques and strategies used to make informed financial decisions.
Instructor
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 57,645 Reviews
- 970,150 Students
- 163 Courses
Through working with students from many different schools, Mr. Steele has learned best practices for helping people understand accounting fast. Learning new skills and finding the best way to share knowledge with people who can benefit from it is a passion of his.
Mr. Steele has experience working as a practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), an accounting and business instructor, and curriculum developer. He has enjoyed putting together quality tools to improve learning and has been teaching, making instructional resources, and building curriculum since 2009. He has been a practicing CPA since 2005. Mr. Steele is a practicing CPA, has a Certified Post-Secondary Instructor (CPI) credential, a Master of Science in taxation from Golden Gate University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting from The University of California Santa Barbara, and a Global Management Accounting Designation (CGMA) from The American Institute of CPA (AICPA).
Mr. Steele has also authored five books that can be found on Amazon or in audiobook format on Audible. He has developed bestselling courses in accounting topics including financial accounting and QuickBooks accounting software.
In addition to working as an accountant, teaching, and developing courses Mr. Steele has helped create an accounting website at accountinginstruction, a YouTube channel called Accounting Instruction, Help, and How Too, and has developed supplemental resources including a Facebook Page, Twitter Page, and Podcasts that can be found on I-tunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud. Mr. Steele's teaching philosophy is to make content applicable, understandable, and accessible.
Adult learners are looking for application when they learn new skills. In other words, learners want to be able to apply skills in the real world to help their lives. Mr. Steele’s formal accounting education, practical work experience, and substantial teaching experience allow him to create a curriculum that combines traditional accounting education with practical knowledge and application. He accomplishes the goals of making accounting useful and applicable by combining theory with real-world software like Excel and QuickBooks.
Many courses teach QuickBooks data entry or Excel functions but are not providing the real value learners want. Real value is a result of learning technical skills like applications, in conjunction with specific goals, like accounting goals, including being able to interpret the performance of a business.
Mr. Steele makes knowledge understandable by breaking down complex concepts into smaller units with specific objectives and using step by step learning processes to understand each unit. Many accounting textbooks cram way too much information into a course, making it impossible to understand any unit fully. By breaking the content down into digestible chunks, we can move forward much faster.
Mr. Steele also makes use of color association in both presentations and Excel worksheets, a learning tool often overlooked in the accounting field, but one that can vastly improve the speed and comprehension of learning accounting concepts.
The material is also made understandable through the application of concepts learned. Courses will typically demonstrate the accounting concepts and then provide an Excel worksheet or practice problems to work through the concepts covered. The practice problems will be accompanied by an instructional video to work through the problem in step by step format. Excel worksheets will be preformatted, usually including an answer tab that shows the completed problem, and a practice tab where learners can complete the problem along with a step by step presentation video.
Mr. Steele makes learning accounting accessible by making use of technology and partnering with teaching platforms that have a vision of spreading knowledge like Udemy.