ECBA™ Certification Preparation and Data Analysis Essentials

Overview:

Introduction:

This comprehensive training program combines essential aspects of planning, forecasting, budgeting, and financial management. It emphasizes the practical application of financial analysis and the integration of planning and budgeting with costing and performance measurement.

Program Objectives:

At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Understand and utilize Excel tools for planning, forecasting, and budgeting.

• Perform sophisticated “what-if” scenarios to improve decision-making.

• Develop and implement effective financial models.

• Master budgetary and cost control techniques.

• Understand the strategic planning and financial decision-making process.

• Link finance and operations for budgeting purposes and strategy execution.

• Build a comprehensive performance measurement system.

• Interpret variance analysis and apply it in a business context.

Target Audience:

• Financial Accounting Team Members.

• Cost and Management Accounting Staff.

• Finance Managers, and Budget Managers.

• Commercial Managers.

• Capital Investment and Project Team Members.

• Employees looking to improve their career in financial management.

• Project Management Professionals.

• Financial Analysts, Financial Controllers and Accountants.

• Treasurers.

• All management levels within the organization.

Program Outline:

Unit 1:

Introduction to Spreadsheets using Excel:

• Worksheet fundamentals and using the F4 key for Relative & Absolute cell references.

• Exposing ALL formulas in a worksheet using the built-in function for faster review.

• Naming cells & ranges for quicker, more accurate work.

• Freezing panes, columns & rows for easier viewing while scrolling.

• Protecting cells & ranges to stabilize models.

Unit 2:

Proper Planning:

• Introduction to planning and what-if analysis techniques.

• Scenario and sensitivity analysis using spinners & scroll bars.

• Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Data tables for exploring options.

• Maximizing vs. optimizing techniques and The Goal Seek command.

• Using Solver for optimal product mix, distribution problems & capital budgeting.

Unit 3:

Fantastic Forecasting:

• Understanding forecasting and qualitative & quantitative techniques.

• Smoothing techniques and regression analysis.

• Time series analysis and forecasting growth rates.

• Using MIN, MAX, MEDIAN, MODE & AVERAGE functions.

• Applying GEOMEAN, RANK, QUARTILE & PERCENTILE functions.

Unit 4:

Beyond Budgeting:

• Building a simple and flexible budget model.

• Operating and financial budget elements.

• Linking budget elements and performing variance analysis.

• Calculating and interpreting variance analysis.

• Using variance analysis to improve budgeting and planning processes.

Unit 5:

Building Comprehensive Models:

• Building planning, forecasting, and budgeting models in Excel.

• Linking these models for a cohesive financial plan.

• Leveraging optimization through capital structure.

• Bond buybacks and their impact on financial models.

• Integrating what-if analysis into comprehensive models.

Unit 6:

The Challenge of Financial Economic Decision-Making:

• The practice of financial-economic analysis.

• Corporate value and shareholder value.

• Benchmarking strategic positions and competitor analysis.

• The agency problem and corporate governance.

• Utilizing financial statements for decision-making.

Unit 7:

Assessment of Business Performance:

• Ratio analysis and evaluating business performance.

• Perspectives of management, owners, and lenders.

• Systems of ratios and the Dupont system integration.

• Economic value added (EVA).

• Predicting financial distress.

Unit 8:

Projection of Financial Requirements:

• Interrelationship of financial projections.

• Operating budgets and variance analysis.

• Cash forecasts and budgeting.

• Sensitivity analysis in financial modeling.

• Understanding operating leverage and financial growth plans.

Unit 9:

Analysis of Investment Decisions:

• Applying time-adjusted measures (NPV, IRR).

• Strategic perspectives in investment analysis.

• Refinements of investment analysis techniques (EAC, MIRR).

• Scenario analysis, simulation, and NPV break-even analysis.

• Managing risk and changing circumstances in investment decisions.

Unit 10:

Valuation and Business Performance:

• Managing for shareholder value.

• Evolution of value-based methodologies.

• Creating value in restructuring and combinations.

• Financial strategy in acquisitions and business valuation.

• Management buyouts (MBOs) and buy-ins (MBIs).

Unit 11:

Strategic and Financial Planning:

• Financial vs. managerial accounting.

• Linking strategy, budgeting, costing, and performance measurement.

• Conducting SWOT and PESTEL analysis.

• Identifying value creation drivers within a company.

• Aligning strategic planning with organizational goals.

Unit 12:

The Framework for Budgeting:

• Understanding the purpose of budgets.

• The budgeting framework and process.

• Types of budgets and their applications.

• Top-down vs. bottom-up budgeting approaches.

• Incremental vs. zero-based budgeting.

Unit 13:

Cost Analysis for Budgeting:

• Defining costs and understanding cost behavior.

• Using breakeven models and contribution margin concepts.

• Direct and indirect costs, traditional vs. activity-based costing.

• Product vs. period costs in budgeting.

• Analyzing cost behavior for effective budgeting.

Unit 14:

Budgeting - Controlling The Budget Variances:

• Organizing budgeting by department or project.

• Performing budget variance analysis.

• Understanding static and flexible budgets.

• Computing flexible-budget and sales-volume variances.

• Integrating continuous improvement into variance analysis.

Unit 15:

Broadening Performance Measurement Systems:

• Advantages and disadvantages of traditional budgeting.

• Improving budgeting processes within organizations.

• Exploring beyond budgeting approaches.

• Linking strategy to budgeting through the Balanced Scorecard.

• Developing and adapting the Balanced Scorecard for performance measurement.