Forecasting And
Cost Analysis Techniques

Are your financial plans and budgets based on accurate costing of your products and services?

Are your forecasts of sales and costs objective and realistic, or are your budgets perhaps based on ‘what we did last year’ plus a percentage uplift?  Many organisations continue to use out-of-date costing systems and information. Many organisations continue to plan and budget using an unrealistic percentage uplift of previous years results.

This Anderson online course includes forecasting techniques and cost behavior analysis, using examples, exercises and real-life case studies throughout to provide attendees with the awareness and essential techniques and skills to prepare more effective financial plans, and budgets for both planning and control.

By the end of this Anderson online training course you will be able to:

• Analyse the applicability of historical data using Excel® and other techniques
• Apply the most appropriate forecasting methods for your specific planning purposes
• Understand cost behaviour, and analysis of fixed, variable, semi-fixed, and semi-variable costs
• Use alternative costing methods including activity based costing, and activity based budgeting
• Provide management information on a more timely and useful basis to decision makers.

This Anderson online training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals but will greatly benefit:

• Professionals who require a more in-depth understanding of integrated planning and budgeting techniques
• Accountants responsible for budget preparation and management reporting
• Financial planners and cost analysts
• Line managers with direct planning and budgeting responsibility
• Professional advisers, accounting personnel and business consultants

Among a wide range of valuable topics, the following will be prioritised:

• Problems associated with forecasting
• Use of historical data to help predict the future
• Consideration of alternative forecasting techniques
• Development of time series models
• Regression analysis as a predictor and an estimator
• Use of exponential smoothing as a data analysis tool
• Cost behavior, cost analysis and cost-volume-profit analysis
• Alternative methods of costing: full absorption costing and marginal costing
• Process analysis, defining key activities and key cost drivers
• Activity based costing (ABC) and activity based budgeting (ABB)

Anderson e-Certificate of Completion will be provided to delegates who attend and complete the course