Following and staying within a budget is usually a fairly humdrum operational task. Drafting one, especially one that contends with changed or changing circumstances, is part of strategic planning and requires a great deal of judgment and skill.

Where do these vital top-down budgets come from, and where do you begin adapting a previous year’s budget or creating one from scratch? These questions are at the heart of this course’s material.

Seeing Strategic Budgeting in Context

Without delving too deeply into numbers and accounting procedures, this introductory course highlights the fundamentals of how revenue and expenses are predicted. Capital budgeting, such as for planning a new or upgraded hospitality property, and forecasting necessary staffing levels are also touched upon.

 

This course is specifically not an accounting module, though some knowledge of bookkeeping is required. The principles shared and the case study discussed will no doubt be of use to current and aspiring accountants and managers, but the emphasis remains on the deliberate approach to planning being taught, not financial statements as such.

 

In other words, this course provides a general overview of budgeting and financial planning. This makes it a suitable option for anyone contemplating a career in hospitality management, who has not yet decided to take the plunge and pursue more extensive studies.

What This Course Will Teach You:

Unusually, the format of this course consists of watching a recording of a workshop discussion between the instructor and former students. As they discussed the ins and outs of budgeting in a relatively informal setting, questions most students will have as well as numerous practical examples surface and are addressed naturally.

 

The topics covered include:

• Fundamentals of budgeting.
• How revenue is forecasted.
• How expenses are forecasted.
• Effects of budgeting decisions on actual operations.

This course gives a kind of sneak peek at what really goes on at the highest levels of hotel management. Understanding what’s involved will not only provide the student with a better understanding of how a large business works, but also enable them to supply more appropriate and relevant suggestions.