The financial planning process is an ongoing function that, when corporations do not give enough attention to, causes several surprises in operations, funding and shareholder value. Having proper forecasts prepares management and shareholders for exploring potential growth and required investments, and ensuring that the business creates value for shareholders in the long run.

The course starts by explaining the need for financial planning and forecasting in today’s business environment, and how to differentiate between good forecasts and bad ones. The course also explains how financial planning is dependent in essence on historical performance and perceived future prospects of the business, the industry and in a wider range, the economy.

The course discusses detailed concepts for forecasting financial statements, starting with revenues and associated direct and indirect cost, the required investments in CAPEX or working capital to achieve the operational targets, and identifying any funding gaps and determining the best funding options. At the end of the course we discuss possible payouts to shareholders, or reinvesting the profits in the business again.

The course also discusses preparing different scenarios for each variable in order to assess the different interactions among them. At the end, the course discusses techniques to explain whether or not the business is doing well in the long run.