Finance, Accounting and Audit
Budgeting and Cost Control
Financial Modelling for Planning and Forecasting
Building a model somebody else can audit, and forecasting in a way that admits what has been assumed.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
A forecast model fails either because it is wrong or because nobody can check it, and the second is more common. A spreadsheet with numbers hardcoded inside formulas, no separation between input and calculation, and no way to see which assumption drives the answer cannot be reviewed, so it is trusted or discarded rather than challenged. This week is about structure first and forecasting technique second: a model built so the assumptions are visible, the logic is traceable, and the sensitivity to each input can be demonstrated.
Who should attend
Finance analysts and business partners who build planning models, financial controllers who review them, and managers who have to rely on the output.
What you will be able to do
- Structure a model so input, calculation and output are separate and traceable.
- Forecast a line from a driver rather than from a growth rate.
- Build the three statements so the balance sheet balances by construction.
- Run a sensitivity and a scenario, and tell them apart.
- Review somebody else's model and find where it breaks.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Why models are not trusted
- Numbers hardcoded inside formulas, and what they cost later
- Separating input, calculation and output
- Consistency, so a formula can be read once and copied
- Documenting an assumption beside the cell that uses it
Day 2
Forecasting a line
- Drivers, and finding the one that actually moves it
- Growth rates as a last resort
- Seasonality, and the trap of annualising
- Forecasting cost that steps rather than scales
Day 3
The three statements
- Building so the balance sheet balances by construction
- Working capital from days rather than from a plug
- Debt, interest and the circularity it creates
- Checks that fail loudly when something stops tying
Day 4
Uncertainty
- Sensitivity to one input against a coherent scenario
- Which assumptions actually move the answer
- Presenting a range without implying false precision
- Break even, and the question it answers
Day 5
Review and handover
- Auditing a model you did not build
- The errors that recur, and where to look first
- Version control and a change log
- Handing a model over so it survives you
What you leave with
- A restructured version of one of the delegate's own models, with inputs separated.
- A driver based forecast for one significant line, with the sensitivity shown.
- A review checklist for a model arriving from somebody else.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.