Financial Forecasting: Tools and Techniques

1. Apply different forecasting techniques in financial and business decisions.
2. Utilize Microsoft Excel to build forecasting models effectively.
3. Explain the different macro and micro assumptions affecting financial and business forecasts.
4. Build models for forecasting income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements and their components.
5. Differentiate between various forecasting models and approaches and assist senior management in understanding their impact.

Financial controllers, analysts, finance and accounting managers, supervisors, and finance professionals who need to create, interpret and maintain forecasts in their organizations.

Forecasting Models:

• Qualitative Models
  • o Market Research Approach
  • o Delphi Method Technique
• Quantitative Models
  • o The Indicator Approach
  • o Causal  Models
    • Econometric Models
    • Regression Analysis: Simple and Multiple
    • Correlation Coefficient and Coefficient of Determination
  • o Time Series Methods
    • Simple Average
    • Moving Average
    • Exponential Smoothing
    • Expected Value
    • Decomposition Forecasting
    • Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average
    • Box-Jenkins Forecasting

Types of Forecasting:

• Micro and Macro Factors
• Forecasting Sales
  • o Estimating Market Demand
  • o Estimating Company Demand
  • o Developing Sales Forecast
• Forecasting Cost of Sales
• Forecasting Operating Expenses
• Forecasting Key Assets and Liabilities Accounts
• Modeling Income Statement Forecast
• Modeling Balance Sheet Forecast

Building Forecasting Models:

• The Units/Quantity/Activity Level
• The Price/Cost per Unit of Activity
• Pricing Strategies
  • o Cost-Plus Pricing
  • o Pricing – Business Objectives
  • o Pricing – Return on Investment
  • o Expansionistic Pricing
  • o Price Skimming
  • o Variable Cost Pricing
  • o Breakeven Pricing

Cash Flow Forecasting:

• Using Published Cash Flow Statements
• Understanding and Analyzing Cash Flow Statements
• Forecasting Free Cash Flows

Working with Uncertainty and Risk:

• Scenario Forecasting and Analysis
• Judgmental Forecasting
• Probability and Risk

• The Training lectures.
• The Group discussions.
• The Training Workshops.