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Description

Management Control: Building Costs, Budgets and Dashboards

Produce management analysis that operational teams understand and actually use to decide

  • 4 days — 28 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • All levels
  • Up to 6 participants

Management control often produces voluminous reports that nobody opens, arrives after the decision has been taken, and runs into allocation keys contested by department heads. Variance analysis then does little more than describe the past without triggering any action.

Four days to equip the function across its full value chain. The programme covers cost build-up and allocation, the budget process and its assumptions, variance analysis and root causes, dashboard design, and finally the management dialogue with operational teams.

Learning objectives

  • Build a costing model suited to the company's activity
  • Select and justify allocation keys for indirect costs
  • Run the budget process and consolidate assumptions
  • Analyse variances and trace them back to their operational causes
  • Design dashboards built around the decisions to be supported
  • Lead the management dialogue with department heads

What makes this programme different

The costing model is built and then tested against the objections of department heads
Dashboards are designed from the decisions to be supported rather than from the data available
The management dialogue is practised facing an operational manager who disputes the figures

Programme

1Positioning the function

What management control is for

  • Position management control between executive leadership and operations
  • Distinguish accounting information from management information
  • Identify the decisions the function must support
  • Define the scope and the production calendar

2Building costs

Knowing what an activity truly costs

  • Choose between full costing and partial costing according to the intended use
  • Define cost centres and drivers for indirect costs
  • Calculate a unit cost per product or per service
  • Defend allocation keys in front of operational teams

3Running the budget process

Organising the forecast

  • Set the calendar and the stages of the budget campaign
  • Collect and challenge the assumptions submitted by departments
  • Consolidate the budget and check its overall consistency
  • Build scenarios and mid-year revisions

4Analysing variances and designing dashboards

Explain, then prompt action

  • Break a variance down into volume effect and price effect
  • Trace a quantified variance back to an operational cause
  • Select a limited number of genuinely useful indicators
  • Design a readable dashboard layout

5Leading the management dialogue

Bringing the figures to life

  • Prepare a budget review meeting
  • Present variances without assigning blame
  • Secure commitments to corrective actions
  • Follow through on implementation until the effect is measured

Who is it for

Management controllers taking up a new role · accountants moving into the function · finance and administration managers.

Prerequisites

A working knowledge of general accounting will make the programme easier to follow.

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.