Professional Project Analyst

Introduction

An alarming number of capital projects worldwide fail to realize the financial and strategic goals of the investing organization, causing financial losses, waste of resources and missed opportunities. This is often an inevitable consequence of failing to apply the tools and techniques of modern project analysis, overly optimistic budgeting, insufficient risk mitigation and ill-informed decisions.

The decision whether or not to invest a substantial amount in a new capital project is made with a lot of uncertainty. Project analysis tools and techniques help companies conduct a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of potential investment opportunities, assess their probability of success and drive the decisions to develop or abandon them. This involves development of sound, realistic, and carefully structured cashflow projections, thorough examination of the underlying assumptions and thoughtful consideration of potential future scenarios.

Competent application of project analysis tools helps estimate expected returns, evaluate risk exposure and select appropriate risk mitigation strategies. This should result in improved decision making and increased effectiveness of investments.

This LAKESHORE ISL training will highlight:

• The Importance of thorough Project Definition and Analysis
• The Advantages, Disadvantages and Practical Applications of various profitability models
• Core Financial Analysis Principles and Modern Concepts of Risk Management
• Tools and Techniques for Making Decisions under Risk and Uncertainty
• Application of Decision Trees, Scenario and Sensitivity Analysis in Risk Mitigation and Investment Decisions

Objectives

By the end of this LAKESHORE ISL training, you will be able to:

• Make or recommend investment decisions and compellingly present them to the stakeholders
• Appraise project risk, identify and manage risk mitigation strategies
• Apply robust cash-flow, scenario and sensitivity analysis techniques to evaluate potential future conditions and select effective investment strategies
• Define and manage project success factors and maximize the return on invested capital
• Critically evaluate investment decisions and financial risk mitigation strategies

Training Methodology

Delegates will develop advanced cashflow analysis skills through formal and interactive learning methods. This LAKESHORE ISL Professional Project Analyst training course includes individual exercises, team projects, practical case studies and group discussions that will immediately apply and bring to life the skills acquired throughout this training.

This LAKESHORE ISL Professional Project Analyst training course does not assume prior knowledge of the topics covered in this training. New concepts and tools are introduced gradually and carefully built on to enable delegates to progress to the advanced concepts.

Organisational Impact

Application of sound project appraisal and quantification techniques will enable the organization to forecast potential future conditions that might create strategic opportunities or jeopardize project success, thereby maximizing the organization’s return on capital invested in projects.

Personal Impact

Participants will:

• Enhance their understanding of the project cashflow analysis, as well as learn how to use the basic tools of engineering economics such as Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Equivalent Annual Value and Expected Monetary Value calculations
• Learn how to plan and structure cashflow projections for their projects – the single most important forecasting and control tool for project success
• Discover how to evaluate and compare alternative mutually exclusive investment options, even when they occur over differing time horizons
• Understand how to assess and address project risk and uncertainty
• Detailed explanations of the tools and techniques to determine and continuously monitor project feasibility will enable participants to select and recommend projects with the best investment potential.

Who Should Attend?

This LAKESHORE ISL Project Management training is suitable to a wide range of professionals but will greatly benefit:

• Program Project Professionals
• Project Leaders
• Project Engineers
• Cost Engineers
• Project Advisors

And other project and business services professionals who are responsible for or involved in evaluating projects and managing cashflow on projects

Seminar Outline

DAY 1

Fundamentals of Decision Analysis

• What is Project Decision Analysis?
• Selecting Projects to meet Organizational Goals
• Defining Projects, Identifying Key Decision-making Factors
• Risk and Uncertainty in Projects
• Fundamental Tools of Engineering Economics
• Time Value Of Money, Compounding, Discounting, Annuity
• Appraisal Methods (Payback, Discounted Cashflow, Net Present Value (NPV), Equivalent Annual Value (EAV)
• Financial Analysis using Microsoft Excel

DAY 2

Rate of Return and the Cost of Capital

• Rate of Return Computations (IRR)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Profitability Models
• Estimating the Cost of Capital for a Project
• Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR)
• Comparing mutually exclusive Projects with Equal Lives and Comparing Projects with Unequal Lives
• Using NPV, IRR, BCR, EAV in Project Selection
• Comparing mutually exclusive Projects using Incremental Benefit-cost Ratios

DAY 3

Cash-Flow Modelling and Project Decision Analysis

• Project Decisions and Total Cost of Ownership
• Financial Modelling and Project Evaluation: Capital Expenditures (CAPEX), Operating Expenditures (OPEX), Working Capital requirements, Incremental Costs and Benefits, Terminal Cashflows
• Preparing Cashflow Projections (cashflows vs. accounting profits, inflation, opportunity costs, overheads and synergies, sunk costs, depreciation, taxation, interest, insurance, etc.)
• Developing Cashflow Models and Testing Assumptions
• Business Case Content

DAY 4

Decision Analysis: Expected Value Concept

• Overview of the Risk Management Process
• Risk Tolerance and Risk Prioritization
• Risk Quantification and Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Concepts
• Decisions under Certainty, Risk and Uncertainty
• Basic Probability Concepts
• Probability Applications: Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT), Monte Carlo Analysis
• Assessing the Probability of Completing a Project within the Desired Budget
• Contingency

DAY 5

Decision Analysis: Decision Trees, Scenario, Sensitivity Analysis and Simulation

• Decision Tree Analysis
• Scenario Analysis
• Sensitivity Analysis and Tornado Diagram
• Integrated Practical Application
• Presenting Decision Analysis

Assessment

• Following attendance on this LAKESHORE ISL Professional Project Analyst training, certification with ILM requires you to complete an assessment as to how you are going to apply the knowledge gained on the training to your area of responsibility.
• You need to consider the modules and topics covered in the seminar when developing your assessment.
• Identify a small project to undertake some form of Project Appraisal. An example might be something like considering purchasing a new photo-copying machine
• Using an appropriate and relevant project appraisal method decide whether the project should proceed