Accounting and finance · Level 3 to 4, managers and budget holders
Budgeting and forecasting
Building a budget people will actually use, and a forecast that tells the truth.
- 1modules
- 2.5CPD hours
- 60guided minutes
- Freealways
About this course
A budget is a plan expressed in money. A forecast is an honest current estimate of where things will land. Confusing the two produces the most common failure in management accounting: a forecast quietly bent to match the budget so nobody has an uncomfortable conversation.
This course covers building a budget, the difference between fixed and variable costs, variance analysis that leads to action rather than blame, and rolling forecasts.
What you will be able to do
- Build a budget from activity rather than from last year plus a percentage
- Separate fixed, variable and stepped costs
- Calculate and interpret variances
- Run a rolling forecast and keep it honest
Modules
Assessment and certificate
Knowledge check after each module and a final assessment at 80 per cent, with unlimited attempts.
A free digital certificate with a verification code that any employer can check, plus an entry on your CPD record.
Questions
What is wrong with last year plus five per cent?
It preserves every mistake in last year's figures permanently, and it cannot respond to a change in what the business actually does. If a service closed or doubled, the percentage approach is simply wrong, and it will keep being wrong every year afterwards because each year is built on the last.
Should a forecast be changed to match the budget?
Never. The budget is what you planned; the forecast is what you now believe will happen. When they differ, that gap is the most valuable information in the pack, because it is early warning. Bending the forecast to match destroys the warning and guarantees the surprise arrives too late to act on.