Mastering Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting and Budgeting

Finance & Accounting · 5 Days · Public · Al-Khobraa certified · From USD 3,900

Overview

The corporate history of the 21st century is notable for the failure of a significant proportion of previously successful enterprises that were unable to adapt to disruptive business model innovation and market changes. In many cases failure can be attributed to the organisation’s inability to plan, execute and adapt successful competitive strategies. Planning, budgeting and forecasting skills are the essential foundation of this critical business process and spreadsheet skills facilitate the rapid development of financial models in vital applications to support these activities.

Learning Objectives

• Participate effectively in planning, budgeting and forecasting process
• Apply advanced Excel spreadsheet skills in business forecasting
• Employ leading edge tools for cost analysis and forecasting
• Develop financial models to assist in capital investment decisions
• Make spreadsheet models for cash flow forecasting
• Build powerful “what if” spreadsheet models for risk sensitivity analysis

Who Should Attend

This Mastering Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting and Budgeting training course will not only be of benefit to planning team members, but it will also provide a useful insights and tools for other professionals in related fields, in particular the course will greatly benefit: Financial accounting team members Cost and management accounting staff Finance managers Budget managers Commercial managers Capital investment and project team members

• Financial accounting team members
• Cost and management accounting staff
• Finance managers
• Budget managers
• Commercial managers
• Capital investment and project team members

Course Outline

Day 1 — Fundamentals of Business Planning

• The aims and principles of strategic planning
• A framework for effective strategic execution
• The structure and format of financial statements
• Measuring and managing financial performance

Day 2 — Principles and Techniques of Business Forecasting

• Spreadsheet skills: using Excel’s statistical analysis tools
• Using moving averages to analyse time series data
• Using linear regression for sales trend analysis
• Applying exponential smoothing to forecasting

Day 3 — Budgeting for Revenue and Operating Costs

• The role of budgeting in the planning cycle
• Traditional and advanced approaches to cost analysis
• Spreadsheet skills: using regression and correlation for cost forecasts
• Criticisms and limitations of conventional budgeting methods

Day 4 — Cash Flow Forecasting and Cash Budgeting

• Understanding the drivers of business cash flow
• Spreadsheet skills: building a cash flow forecast model
• Principles of capital budgeting
• Capital investment appraisal tools

Day 5 — Incorporating Risk Management in to Planning and Forecasting

• Identifying and analysing business risk
• Probability based approach to decision-making
• Spreadsheet skills: building decision trees in Excel
• Sensitivity analysis and “What-If” forecasting

Accreditation

Al-Khobraa certified. On completion delegates receive an Al-Khobraa certificate of achievement.

Dates & Venues

Dates	Venue	Delivery	Duration	Fee (USD)
25–29 October 2026	Riyadh, KSA	Public	5 days	3,900
23–27 November 2026	Cape Town, South Africa	Public	5 days	4,500
6–10 December 2026	Doha, Qatar	Public	5 days	4,500

Enquire about Mastering Spreadsheet Skills for Planning, Forecasting and Budgeting · Enquire on WhatsApp

Frequently Asked Questions

What do Al-Khobraa finance and accounting courses cover?

The portfolio covers IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and IPSAS, financial analysis and reporting, budgeting and forecasting, cost and management accounting, accounts payable and receivable, internal controls and audit, and finance for non-finance managers.

Who should attend a finance and accounting course?

These courses suit accountants and financial analysts, finance managers and controllers, budgeting and planning staff, internal auditors, accounts payable and receivable teams, and non-financial managers who own a budget or read financial statements.

How long are finance and accounting courses, and where are they held?

Most Al-Khobraa finance and accounting courses run over 5 days. The exact duration, dates and city for this course are listed in the dates section on this page. Public sessions run across Saudi Arabia — Riyadh, Jeddah, Al-Khobar, Jubail and Yanbu — as well as regional and international venues, with live virtual classrooms available on request.

What certificate will I receive?

Delegates who complete the course receive an Al-Khobraa certificate of completion, issued by a Saudi-registered training provider. Al-Khobraa also delivers internationally accredited programmes; where a course carries an external awarding body such as PMI, CIPS, ILM or IOSH, that body is named on the course's own page.

Can finance and accounting training be delivered in-house for our team?

Yes. Any Al-Khobraa finance and accounting course can be delivered in-house at your own premises anywhere in Saudi Arabia or the GCC, with the content, dates and language of delivery tailored to your team. Al-Khobraa is an approved HRDF (Hadaf) provider, so eligible Saudi employers can seek training support. Contact us for a quotation.

Related Finance & Accounting Courses

• Accounting, Decision Making and Financial Communication
• Accounting and Finance Policies & Procedures
• Accounts Payable: Accounting and Management Best Practices
• Accounts Payable: Planning, Organizing and Achieving Best Practice
• Accounts Reconciliation Strategies and Management
• Adapting the Corporate Budget in the Wake of Unknowns
• Adding Value in Internal Audit Training
• Advance Finance for non-Finance Professional

Browse all Finance & Accounting training courses