In today's world, there is more importance given to financial planning and analysis. Professionals are expected by top management to provide proper information and analysis for decision making and to be equipped with the proper tools to do so. Management needs to have confidence in what the financial professionals are presenting in the company’s budgets and forecasts. Now, you have the chance to certify your credentials and expertise in the field of budgeting, forecasting, financial planning and analysis through the Association of Financial Professional (AFP). AFP’s Certified Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis Professional is a designation well worth your time and investment. It’s a two parts exam that are available online. This course provides an overview of the main concepts so you can pass the exam and stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Course Methodology
The course is designed to tackle the key concepts and most difficult areas covered in the exam with the use of exercises and workshops.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Identify proper sources for gathering information about the company and its industry and apply the basic concepts of macro economics and strategic planning
Define main financial and micro economic concepts and identify types of budgets
Perform financial analysis and variance analysis and draw conclusions
Build financial projections, evaluate capital expenditures and investments and create what-if analysis
Utilize advanced spreadsheet functions, e.g. value lookup, pivot tables, macros, etc.
Target Audience
All accounting and finance professionals who are currently working, or seeking to work, in the financial planning, analysis, budgeting and forecasting domain within their organizations.
Target Competencies
Applying accounting rules
Budgeting
Financial planning
Analytical skills
Communication skills
Building financial models
Course Outline
Gathering and interpreting information
Sources of historical information and historical financial data and corporate structure and functions
Sources of information about a company’s business environment (e.g. business models, financial ratios, and industry metrics)
General financial concepts and common financial formulas (e.g., time value, opportunity costs, debt structures and covenants, earnings per share, cost of capital, etc.)
Financial accounting concepts, principles, and practices
Interactions/interrelationships of common financial statements
Basic micro-economics (e.g., marginal costs, pricing, price elasticity of supply and demand, etc.)
Managerial accounting/reporting and cost accounting concepts
Costs throughout the production process
Fixed and variable costs
Cost allocation
Contribution margins
Types of budgets/forecasts (e.g., zero-based budgets, annual budgets, rolling forecasts, etc.) and their applications
Financial close process, including the resulting financial reporting activities, and the role of the FP&A function in the close/reporting process
General business terminology, practices, and processes (e.g., compensation structures, performance management, stock options, etc.)
Defining, coordinating, and communicating project/work flow elements (e.g., deadlines, deliverables, expectations, etc.)
Effective communication and presentation techniques (e.g., building alliances, resolving communication issues, determining appropriate presentation techniques, preparing reports, using charts/graphs, etc.)
Analyzing information
Determining the applicability/acceptability of tools, processes, models, etc.
Testing and validating a model (e.g., cross-footing, consistency testing, reasonableness assessment, etc.)
Identifying outliers in data and determining the causes
Developing assumptions, drawing conclusions, assessing the reasonableness of assumptions/conclusions, and testing conclusions against various scenarios
“What-if” scenarios, sensitivity analysis and risk analysis
Using technology/software
Basic and advanced spreadsheet functions
Financial functions
Pivot tables
Value lookups
Macros
Integration with other common software
Common statistical calculations (e.g., standard deviation, expected value, correlation, regression, means, modes, etc.) using a spreadsheet
Documenting and maintaining models (e.g., understand documentation concepts, document assumptions, create supporting information and protocols, document functionality and structure, use software/data version control concepts and techniques, etc.)
Common database structures, common database functions, and structure/ functions of common financial software/systems