Cairo, Egypt, 19-23 September 2010
Washington DC, USA, 25-29 October 2010

This course uses the latest version of our software, Microfin 4.11.

Summary This course guides participants through a step-by-step process for developing a business plan and financial projections for a microfinance institution using Microfin 4.0, the sophisticated financial projections software that was developed by the facilitators of this training course, Chuck Waterfield and Tony Sheldon, with financial support from CGAP, Women’s World Banking, and Sida.

Microfin has long been the microfinance “industry standard” for planning and budgeting. Microfin allows you to develop detailed five-year financial projections and budgets for your institution, and to simulate the impact of key decisions on your institution.

Microfin 4.0 includes 200 major enhancements over Microfin 3.0, including an expanded range of financial products, improved guidance and error-checking features, versatile graphing, and much more.

This fast-paced course is designed to be highly participatory, with a large amount of hands-on time working in groups at the computer, applying the software to a detailed case study. In addition to the course manual, at the conclusion of the course, participants will receive a CD-ROM containing Microfin and the User’s Handbook.

By the end of the workshop you will have a better understanding of:
bullet how to use Microfin to develop financial projections for your own institution
bullet practical approaches to planning
bullet the most important financial ratios to monitor, and how to interpret them
bullet critical operational issues such as designing products to meet client needs, pricing your products, and focusing on loan officers to leverage institutional productivity
bullet how to develop long-term, diversified financing strategies

This workshop is facilitated by the two developers of Microfin, and is based on the CGAP Handbook they authored, Business Planning and Financial Modeling for Microfinance Institutions. They have taught this course in 20 countries around the world, and it is one of the most recognized and attended courses in all of microfinance.

Agenda

Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided daily. Hotels or other accommodation are the responsibility of each participant and are not included in the course fee.

Day 1
bullet Overview of Business Planning: Participants will review and discuss the Business Planning framework. In particular, attention will be directed to the market-based approach of the framework.
bullet Strategic Planning: This section will address the key steps of strategic planning – articulating the mission, identifying clients and markets, performing an environmental analysis, carrying out an institutional assessment, and developing an overall strategy.
bullet Overview of Financial Management: We provide a brief overview of financial statements, the calculation of financial adjustments, and the key financial ratios used in the microfinance industry.

Day 2
bullet Operational Planning and Introduction to Financial Modeling / Product Design: Over Days 2 through 5, we will apply the strategy developed on Day 1 to creating an operational plan and detailed financial projections, beginning with design of credit and savings products (loan amounts and terms by cycle, pricing, collateral, etc.). Small group exercises throughout will focus on applying a case study to the new version of the Microfin model.

Day 3
bullet Establishing Marketing Channels: Operational planning continues with projecting the levels of activity for each credit and savings product, including growth strategies by branch, retention rates, and analysis of Microfin’s outputs and graphs.

Day 4
bullet Determining Institutional Resources and Capacity: We will look at each aspect of institutional capacity (staffing, operating expenses, fixed assets), linking resources to credit and savings activity.

Day 5
bullet Developing a Financing Strategy and Analyzing Projected Financial Statements and Ratios: We will look at designing a financing strategy by sources (income, grants, equity, debt) and by uses (operations, portfolio, and other assets). We will also review the overall financial projections
bullet Advanced Microfin topics: We will cover advanced topics in Microfin, including sensitivity analysis, variance analysis, creation of additional graphs, etc.

Registration
Registration is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost is $1,350 per participant payable upon registration, or $1,250 if registration and payment are received by Sept 25. To register, please complete and return the attached form and we will send you payment information. (Note: for groups of 2 or more people from the same organization, we offer a discounted fee of $1,250, or $1,150 if registration and payment are received by Sept 25) NOTE: Hotel or other accommodations are the responsibility of each participant, and are not included in the course fee.

Course fee must be paid in full at the time of registration. We cannot reserve places in the course without receiving payment. Please refer to our refund policy at the end of the registration form.

NOTE: Laptop Computers: Participants will work on laptop computers during the course. It is not necessary for each participant to bring a laptop, because we will be working in groups of three. However, to help us in logistical planning, please indicate if you will be bringing a laptop computer.

Facilitators

Chuck Waterfield has over 20 years experience in microfinance, having served as microenterprise director for MEDA and for CARE International. His current work as an independent consultant includes clients such as ACCION, SIDA, the Ford Foundation, CGAP, Opportunity International, and Aspen Institute. He is on the faculty of Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and was formerly on the faculty of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program and Southern New Hampshire University’s Microenterprise Development Institute. In addition to Microfin and the Business Planning handbook, he has a broad range of products and publications including the SEEP FRAME Tool, the CARE Credit and Savings Sourcebook, GEMINI Technical Note on Designing for Financial Viability, and CGAP Handbook on Management Information Systems.

Tony Sheldon has worked as an independent consultant with microfinance institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe since 1990, primarily in the areas of financial management and business planning. He has also worked with several networks and funders, including the Ford Foundation, the SEEP Network, ShoreBank International, Women’s World Banking, CGAP, and the World Bank. From 1997 to 2006 he was on the faculty of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program, and from 1999 to 2006 taught at Southern New Hampshire University’s Microenterprise Development Institute. He currently teaches at the Yale School of Management. In addition to the business planning Handbook, he is the author of WWB’s “Principles and Practices of Financial Management” and a co-author of SEEP’s “Financial Ratio Analysis of MFIs” and editor of the SEEP Practitioner Learning Program series on “Improving Efficiency”.

For more information:
http://www.microfin.com/mfinwashington.htm