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Value for money, budgets that work
Avanti Academy / Managing well / Finance for Non Finance Professionals / Bitesize
Bitesize

Value for money, budgets that work

Investment appraisal and budgeting approaches.

Level
Bitesize
Learning time
1 hour 15 minutes
Where
Finance for Non Finance Professionals
Price
£39

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms

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Certificate of Completion

About this course

Overview and Outcomes.

Overview

This module explores value for money as the best use of resources rather than the cheapest option. It covers the National Audit Office's three Es with equity, Dupuit's cost benefit analysis, financial versus economic appraisal, optimism bias and HM Treasury's Green Book five-case model. Through the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Sure Start evidence it examines why prevention is so hard to fund, and it sets out the role of the Public Accounts Committee. This module looks behind the budget papers boards are asked to approve. It compares incremental budgeting, described by Aaron Wildavsky, with Peter Pyhrr's zero-based budgeting and priority-based budgeting, including Osborne and Hutchinson's budgeting for outcomes, then examines rolling forecasts and Hope and Fraser's Beyond Budgeting, illustrated by Handelsbanken. Drawing on Anthony Hopwood, it sets out common budget games and a five-stage sequence for board engagement.

What you'll develop

In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:

  1. Apply economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity to test whether a proposal offers value for money rather than a low price.
  2. Distinguish financial from economic appraisal, and use the five-case model to probe the assumptions in a business case.
  3. Explain why prevention is hard to fund, and place prevention services on a matrix of who benefits and when.
  4. Compare incremental, zero-based and priority-based budgeting, and judge whether your budget's base reflects your strategy or has gone unchallenged.
  5. Explain how rolling forecasts and Beyond Budgeting separate the forecast from the target, and why that makes both more honest.
What it covers

The Modules.

1 hour 15 minutes of learning.

  1. 12Value for Money and Investment AppraisalThis module explores value for money as the best use of resources rather than the cheapest option. It covers the National Audit Office's three Es with equity, Dupuit's cost benefit analysis, financial versus economic appraisal, optimism bias and HM Treasury's Green Book five-case model. Through the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Sure Start evidence it examines why prevention is so hard to fund, and it sets out the role of the Public Accounts Committee.38 min
  2. 13Budgeting ApproachesThis module looks behind the budget papers boards are asked to approve. It compares incremental budgeting, described by Aaron Wildavsky, with Peter Pyhrr's zero-based budgeting and priority-based budgeting, including Osborne and Hutchinson's budgeting for outcomes, then examines rolling forecasts and Hope and Fraser's Beyond Budgeting, illustrated by Handelsbanken. Drawing on Anthony Hopwood, it sets out common budget games and a five-stage sequence for board engagement.40 min
Where it fits

Keep going.

Part of the Finance for Non Finance Professionals topic, also sold whole as Follow the money.

How credit works

Go deeper, and pay only the difference

  1. You are hereBitesize, 1 hour 15 minutes, £39
  2. Next stepFocus, Budgets, borrowing and resilience, 4 hours, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
  3. Explore, Managing the money, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
  4. The whole topicImmerse, Follow the money, 11 hours, £249. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £210.

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms

Other Bitesize in the Finance for Non Finance Professionals topic

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