Course Overview:
This course is designed for professionals involved in capital investment planning, major programs, and project portfolios. It explores advanced techniques in capital budgeting, cost modeling, lifecycle analysis, risk-adjusted planning, and performance-based program budgeting. Participants will gain strategic and analytical tools to support high-value decision-making, optimize capital allocation, and align budgets with organizational priorities and long-term value creation.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Apply advanced capital budgeting techniques such as NPV, IRR, and real options
- Evaluate and prioritize capital projects based on strategic and financial criteria
- Build and manage comprehensive program budgets with cost control mechanisms
- Incorporate risk, uncertainty, and sensitivity analysis into capital planning
- Develop multi-year capital plans aligned with organizational strategy
- Integrate performance-based budgeting for program effectiveness
- Improve stakeholder communication and investment reporting
Who Should Attend:
- Capital project managers, planners, and engineers
- Program managers and portfolio analysts
- Financial controllers, planning and budgeting professionals
- Investment analysts and strategic finance professionals
- Senior decision-makers responsible for capital allocation and long-term planning
- Public sector and private sector professionals managing large infrastructure or development programs
Course Outline :
Strategic Foundations of Capital and Program Budgeting
- Role of capital budgeting in long-term strategy and asset growth
- Characteristics of capital programs vs operational budgets
- Principles of value-based planning and investment prioritization
- Overview of budgeting frameworks: traditional vs modern approaches
- Multi-year planning and fiscal constraints
Advanced Capital Budgeting Tools and Techniques
- Time value of money, Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
- Payback period, profitability index, and discounted cash flow (DCF) models
- Capital rationing and project ranking
- Real options and scenario-based capital investment analysis
- Common pitfalls in capital project evaluations
Program Budgeting and Portfolio Alignment
- Program budgeting vs project-level budgeting
- Allocating resources across competing programs and portfolios
- Linking capital programs to strategic KPIs and business outcomes
- Benefits realization planning and value tracking
- Budget consolidation, approval workflows, and governance controls
Risk-Adjusted Planning and Sensitivity Analysis
- Identifying and quantifying budget risks in capital projects
- Incorporating contingency reserves and escalation factors
- Sensitivity and scenario analysis for capital projects
- Monte Carlo simulation and decision-tree analysis (introductory level)
- Techniques for uncertainty management in program forecasts
Performance-Based Budgeting and Stakeholder Reporting
- Concepts of performance-based budgeting and output funding
- Key performance indicators (KPIs) for capital and program budgets
- Performance measurement frameworks (e.g., Balanced Scorecard)
- Reporting capital performance to executive and board stakeholders
- Case study: Developing a capital and program budgeting plan with performance metrics