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Budgeting Bootcamp: Annual Operating Plan

Master strategic budgeting and annual operating planning. Learn to create accurate budgets, align financial goals, and deliver data-driven insights that impress leadership.

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Access all courses starting at $25/month.

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2 hrs 34 mins

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32 Lessons

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4.5 NASBA CPE Credits

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Language: English

This Budgeting Bootcamp teaches you how to run a value-added and efficient strategic budgeting process. Starting with the basics, you’ll explore every aspect of creating an annual operating plan—from sales and production budgets to cost-of-goods-sold and consolidated financial models. The course also covers advanced techniques for calendar planning, template structuring, and delivering professional presentations to leadership and boards.

By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped with the tools to transform your budgeting process into a strategic advantage.

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In this course, you'll learn...

✅  The purpose and components of strategic budgeting, including sales, production, and cost-of-goods-sold budgets.

✅  How to set up calendars, structure templates, and manage deliverables throughout the budgeting process.

✅  Techniques for creating consolidated financial models and forecasting cash positions.

✅  Advanced methods for preparing presentations for leadership and board review.

✅  Strategies to elevate a basic budget into a world-class strategic plan. 

✅  Tips and lessons learned from real-world examples to continuously improve your budgeting process.

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How you'll apply these skills...

  • Run efficient, accurate budgeting processes that align financial goals with strategic company objectives.
  • Create and manage detailed financial templates, ensuring data consistency and reliability.
  • Present professional financial plans and insights to leadership and boards with confidence.
  • Optimize resource allocation by forecasting cash positions and understanding funding requirements.
  • Continuously refine your company’s annual operating plan to achieve strategic excellence.
  • Deliver actionable insights that support leadership decision-making and align teams around clear financial targets.

Additional Info

📝  Format
      3-6 minute videos, 5 quizzes, and a final exam

🖥️  Field of Study
      Finance

💼  CPEs
      4.5

📋  Prerequisites
      You should have a basic knowledge of the financial statements and a basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, SUM, SUMIF). If you do not, we recommend taking our Financial Statement Analysis course and/or our Microsoft Excel Bootcamp.

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Copyright © 2025 Wisdify, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wisdify, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.NASBARegistry.org.

Corey

Corey is the owner of Wisdify.  He is passionate about learning and development, he loves helping people achieve their professional and personal goals. Corey is a big believer in the power of online learning and community with 15 years of finance and accounting experience.

Kelsey Murphy

Kelsey is Wisdify’s expert content developer. Taking feedback from our students, Kelsey creates extremely relevant blog posts and leads the development of Wisdify’s other free resources.

Prior to Wisdify, Kelsey worked as a business technology strategy consultant for Forrester, a global research and advisory firm. While there, she acted as project manager for numerous research-based consulting projects.

Kelsey earned a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Wellesley College.

Madison Bess

Madison oversees the social media strategy at Wisdify and makes sure we stay closely connected with our students, receive their feedback, and provide our students with valuable information.

Prior to Wisdify, Madison successfully ran the social media accounts for multiple companies. She also found time to start her own personal training company (which she still runs).

Madison earned a BA in English from Brigham Young University.

Maryn Coughran

Maryn is a co-founder and leads the marketing and outreach efforts at Wisdify. She ensures we are connecting with our customers, hearing their feedback, and then implementing their suggestions.

Prior to Wisdify, Maryn co-founded (along with Nate) BostonExcel, a Microsoft Excel training company that worked with dozens of companies in virtually every industry. Maryn’s clients included numerous Fortune 1000 companies, prestigious universities, startups and everything in between. She also happened to write and illustrate a children’s book. Let’s just say she’s a woman of many talents.

Maryn earned a BA in Economics from Wellesley College.

Joe

Joe is the owner of Wisdify.  He is passionate about learning and development, he loves helping people achieve their professional and personal goals. Joe is a big believer in the power of online learning and community with 20 years of finance and accounting experience.

 

The Buckaroos

Gwyn, Jack, and Kate are the adorable tow-heads that lead up Wisdify’s campaigns on cuteness, energy, and sleep-deprivation.