Strategic Financial management: Frameworks, Principles and Practice

Dates:

• 31 March - 4 April 2025 - Dubai (£2,850)
• 17 - 21 November 2025 - London (£2,850)

Course Outline

Strategic financial management provides the essential ingredients for achieving a sound budget preparation and execution system.

This one-week course will focus on operations within the strategic planning and fiscal framework, budget formulation, preparation and and approval stages of the budget cycle. The course will also explore the prevailing medium-term budget contexts and the legal framework underpinning the budget processes and the role of Parliament in the budget process.

In addition, the course will also examine the performance measurement techniques involved in monitoring achievement of policy objectives throughout the budget cycle.

Course Objectives: 

On completion, you will be able to:

• Understand the principles and practices involved in applying the medium term budget frameworks
• Recognise the importance of the legal framework and the role of Parliament in the budget formulation and preparation process
• Appreciate the public financial management reform context of strategic financial management
• Understand the critical importance of procurement planning for effective budget execution
• Explain the principles of budgeting and its linkages to cash forecasting and cash management
• Understand the principles of cost analysis as a prerequisite for effective budget preparation
• Design relevant performance measures to monitor achievement of policy objectives

Key Topics

• Budget formulation and preparation process
• The role of parliament in the budget formulation process
• Medium-term budget frameworks
• The framework of management control and expenditure monitoring
• Results-based performance measurement, monitoring and evaluation
• Procurement planning
• Linking policy objectives to budget outcomes
• Role of the Chart of Accounts
• Planning and budgeting, and linkages to cash-flow forecasting
• Integrated financial management information systems
• Financing the fiscal gap
• Sources of finance including the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

This is week one of the Strategic Financial Management and Effective Budget Executive Toolkit.