01
Working capital requirement
Receivables, inventory, suppliers and the cash conversion cycle: how growth affects cash.
GAFM® · Global Academy of Finance & Management
Live online course Forecast and Budget Analyst.
Six live online sessions of 4 hours with Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves, author of the CFBA® Certification Manual — with simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages. A hands-on course for professionals who forecast revenue, build budgets and explain results: from the sales assumption to the cash budget, investment analysis and variance control.
“From Forecast to Value. The Global Standard for Budgeting.”
Request more information
- FORMAT
- Live online with Dr. Hiram
- DURATION
- 6 sessions · 4 hours each · 24 hours
- LANGUAGES
- Simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages
- INVESTMENT
- USD 990
Course presentation
Forecast and Budget Analyst
24 live hours with Dr. Hiram · Interpretation into 40 languages · USD 990 · CFBA® certification entitlement
Course overview
Learn to forecast, budget and explain results — live, with the author.
The Forecast and Budget Analyst course is taught live by Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves and is based on the official CFBA® Certification Manual: value creation, financial planning, investment analysis, zero-based budgeting, responsibility centers and variance analysis.
Each 4-hour session combines concept, worked numerical examples and real decision cases. Participants from any country follow the class in their own language through simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages, and can ask questions directly to the professor.
1996
GAFM established — nearly three decades certifying finance and management professionals.
1st
First certification body in the world to hold ISO 9001, ISO 21001 and ISO 29993 simultaneously.
40
Languages of simultaneous interpretation in every live session.
24h
Of live teaching with the author of the CFBA® Certification Manual.
Key learnings
What you will be able to do
- 01Build sales forecasts and turn them into production, purchasing, expense and cash budgets.
- 02Project the income statement and balance sheet and read what they reveal about cash and value.
- 03Measure value creation with NOPAT, WACC, EVA and MVA.
- 04Evaluate investments with CAPM, NPV, IRR and discounted payback.
- 05Apply zero-based budgeting with decision packages.
- 06Explain variances in price, volume, mix and efficiency before management.
Your professor
Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves
AUTHOR OF THE CFBA® CERTIFICATION MANUAL · VICE-PRESIDENT OF GAFM FOR BRAZIL
“A good forecast is not a guess: it is a set of explicit assumptions that the analyst can defend, revise and turn into decisions. In this course we practice that discipline together, live.”
Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves
AUTHOR OF THE CFBA® CERTIFICATION MANUAL · VICE-PRESIDENT OF GAFM FOR BRAZIL
Curriculum
- Doctor of Administration and Master of Accounting Sciences (Rio de Janeiro State University — UERJ, 1997).
- Graduate of the Brazilian Naval Academy (Naval Sciences, 1985) and of Business Administration (SUESC, 1989).
- Holder of Chair nº 22 of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Arts, History and Literature (ABRASCI).
- Co-author of the book Análise Econômico-Financeira (FGV Management series, Fundação Getulio Vargas).
- Former Controller of Financial Execution of the Brazilian Navy Ministry (1997–2000); led a World Bank partnership project for the State of Rio de Janeiro.
- Professor in graduate programs at IBMEC, PUC-RJ, FGV and UFRJ; corporate teaching for CEMIG, USIMINAS, Eletronuclear and Promon Engenharia.
Who it is for
Professionals who build forecasts and budgets, or want to start doing so.
FP&A and budget analysts
Assumptions, sales and expense budgets, rolling forecast and monthly performance reports.
Controllers and accountants
Budget consolidation, contribution margin, responsibility centers and variance analysis.
Finance managers and entrepreneurs
Cash budget, working capital, cost of capital and investment decisions.
Future CFBA® holders
A structured live preparation based on the official certification manual.
Course program
Six live sessions of 4 hours — 24 hours with the author.
Session 01
Foundations of budgeting and forecasting
Session 02
Value creation: NOPAT, WACC, EVA and MVA
Session 03
From sales forecast to the financial plan and cash budget
Session 04
Risk, return and investment analysis: CAPM, NPV and IRR
Session 05
Zero-based budgeting and responsibility centers
Session 06
Budgetary control and variance analysis
Course experience
Live classes, real cases and practice tools.
01
Live sessions with Dr. Hiram
Six 4-hour online classes with questions answered in real time.
02
Interpretation into 40 languages
Follow every session in your own language through simultaneous interpretation.
03
CFBA® Manual as reference
Content based on the official manual's chapters on budgeting, value, investment and control.
04
Decision cases
Worked cases with data, dilemma and analytical solution discussed in class.
05
Budget Decision Simulator
Practice rounds where you take the seat of an analyst, controller or CFO.
Open libraries
See the standard before you enroll.
Hundreds of decision cases built on the CFBA® body of knowledge are open to the public.
CFBA® Manual · Chapter 5 · Decision Guide · PT / EN
Sample teaching materials
Exercise 3 — Le Hyram Store
CFBA® Certification Manual · Chapter 5, exercise 3. English translation of the original statement.
Opening Le Hyram Store requires an investment of BRL 500,000. Mr. Hyram understands that Brazilian retailers regard a business yielding 26% per year as attractive (capital recovery within a maximum of three years). The store forecasts monthly profit of BRL 15,000. The company is considering two store types with the historical returns below.
| Year | Ibovespa | Store 1 | Store 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 15% | 25% | 5% |
| 2019 | 31.6% | 37% | 25% |
| 2020 | 2.9% | 10% | 12% |
| 2021 | −11.9% | −16% | 3% |
| 2022 | 4.7% | 6% | −5% |
Pre-tax cost of debt
- FCO
- 14%
- Safra
- 24.51%
- Banco do Brasil
- 41.5%
Calculate the project's NPV over the first five years for both stores, using equity shares of 100%, 50% and 20%, and each debt source below. Assume a 20% income tax rate.
Video assumptions: monthly profit is approximated by annual cash flow of BRL 180,000 received at each year-end, with no residual value or additional investment or working-capital adjustments. The risk-free rate is approximated by a CDI rate of 12.65% per year as a teaching assumption; the market return is 26% per year. These simplifications do not replace a complete cash-flow projection for an actual investment decision.
Worked video solution — CAPM, Ke, WACC and NPV
Case 19 — Collecting assumptions: incomplete data
CFBA® Decision Guide · Case 19 · Chapter 4. Company and scenario are educational, not a verified corporate account. English translation.
Bellarte Confecções S.A., a textile manufacturer with BRL 54 million in revenue, is preparing next year's budget. Priscila, an FP&A analyst, sent an assumptions form to eight departments with a ten-calendar-day deadline.
Only Sales, Production, Logistics and Finance submitted complete data. IT has not replied because its project roadmap is still under review. HR provided partial data, excluding the wage settlement and staffing plan for a new plant awaiting board approval. Legal projected a generic 10% increase in litigation expenses without supporting calculations. Marketing submitted nothing.
Consolidation is due in fifteen days. The CFO requires submission to the Committee on schedule. Priscila must decide how to address gaps, assign responsibilities and preserve traceability without penalizing departments that met the deadline.
How should the budget be completed on time without presenting provisional estimates as final figures or overlooking unknown investments and expenses?
Live format
6 sessions. 4 hours each. 40 languages.
All classes are held live online with Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves. Simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages lets professionals from every GAFM country join the same class.
4h
Duration
100
Questions
≥ 70%
Pass mark
Certification included
The course includes the CFBA® certification.
Enrollment in the course gives the right to the GAFM CFBA® certification. After the six sessions, the participant takes the official CFBA® exam and, upon passing, receives the title and digital seal, verifiable online at GAFM.org.
The CFBA® is part of the GAFM Six Crown — stackable designations such as CRA®, CTS™, CAMC™, CCP™ and CFOS™.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the course
Are the classes live or recorded?+
Live online: six sessions of 4 hours each with Dr. Hiram de Melo Gonçalves.
How does the interpretation work?+
Each session has simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages; you choose your language when you join.
Do I need prior knowledge?+
No. The course builds the concepts from the basics, with numerical examples and cases.
Does the course include the CFBA® certification?+
Yes. The course gives the right to the GAFM CFBA® certification, obtained by passing the official CFBA® exam.
Limited seats per class
Your Forecast and Budget Analyst course starts here.
Learn live with the author of the CFBA® Certification Manual, in your own language.
Course investment
USD 990
Six live sessions of 4 hours (24 hours) with simultaneous interpretation into 40 languages, including the right to the CFBA® certification.