Financial Forecasting: Tools and Applications
Business and financial forecasting is of extreme importance to managers at practically all levels. It is required for top managers to make long-term strategic decisions. Middle management uses sales forecasts to develop their departmental budgets. Every other plan such as a production plan, purchasing plan, manpower plan, and financial plan follows from demand forecasting. The critical element in any supply chain plan is the demand forecast.
The goal of this course is to provide a working knowledge of the fundamentals of business forecasting that can be applied in the real world regardless of firm size. We walk you through basic forecasting methodology, and then practical applications. It encompasses a wide range of topics of major importance to practical managers in all functional areas, including cash flow forecasting, cost prediction, earnings forecasts, bankruptcy prediction, foreign exchange forecasting, interest rate forecasting, and technological forecasting. Emphasis is placed on the use of computer technology such as spreadsheets and stand-alone forecasting software. What is unique about this course is that this course is practically oriented. It will try to avoid theoretical, rigorous, and mathematical discussions. It will directly get into how to use it, when to use, what it is used for, and what resources are required of it. It will include many practical examples, applications, illustrations, guidelines, measures, checklists, rules of thumb, “tips,” graphs, diagrams, and tables to aid your comprehension of the subject.
Course information
Price: $99
This course is included in our MEGA CPE Unlimited Bundle
Course No. 7011
Format: Online pdf (201 pages).
Instructional Delivery Method: QAS Self-Study
Prerequisites: Basic Accounting
Advance Preparation: None
Level: Overview
CPE Credit: 8 hrs.
Field of Study: Finance
Course expiration: You have one year from date of purchase to complete the course.
Course Revision Date: July 2020
Objectives
After completing this course, participants should be able to:
Chapter 1 Forecasting and Managerial Planning
1. Identify various aspects of forecasting methods.
Chapter 2 Forecasting, Budgeting, and Business Valuation
1. Identify the important steps to budgeting
2. Recognize the value of sensitivity analysis.
3. Identify factors in the computation of business valuation.
Chapter 3 Moving Averages and Smoothing Methods
1. Recognize the features of naive forecasting models.
2. Recognize smoothing techniques.
Chapter 4 Time Series Analysis and Classical Decomposition
1. Identify the basic components of the time series data.
2. Recognize the steps to perform decomposition of time series.
Chapter 5 Forecasting With No Data
1. Recognize life cycle stages for new products.
Chapter 6 Indirect Methods
1. Identify assumptions used to forecast sales with the Markov model.
2. Understand the value of performing market surveys for forecasting.
Chapter 7 Evaluation of Forecasts
1. Recognize methods of comparing a predicted forecast change with the observed change.
2. Identify how to measure and rank accuracy of forecasts.
Chapter 8 Sales and Revenue Forecasting
1. Recognize different methods of performing economic forecasts.
2. Identify the value of a combination method of sale forecasting.
Chapter 9 Forecasting the Economy
1. Recognize the use of different econometric models.
2. Identify some sources of economic data that can be used to improve forecasts.
Chapter 10 Financial Forecasting
1. Identify the steps in projecting financial needs for the firm.
2. Recognize the implication of earnings forecasts and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements.
3. Identify different sources provided from security analysts for earnings projections.
4. Identify benefits and methods of forecasting the cash collection pattern.
Chapter 11 Analysis of Cost Behavior and Cost Prediction
1. Differentiate the costs found in a company.
2. Recognize different methods for estimating costs.
Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Prediction
1. Identify bankruptcy prediction models and the limitations of some methodologies.
Chapter 13 Forecasting Foreign Exchange Rates
1. Recognize the reasons for managers to forecast the foreign exchange rates.
Chapter 14 Interest Rate Forecasting
1.Identify the different aspects of interest rate forecasts
Chapter 15 Technological Forecasting
1. Identify characteristics and accuracy of technological forecasting.
2. Identify the trends that affect the future of forecasting.
Ratings and Reviews
Mark Conatser
A great reference for future forecasting.
I found this information very useful!