In our Training Management System Features blog series, we’re exploring the key features needed to ease the complexity and optimize these core training back-office processes: Operations and logistics, scheduling and resource management, reporting, sales cycle management, and in this article — training budget management and optimization / financial planning and performance.
Are you struggling with controlling or managing your organization’s training budget? There’s nothing worse than not knowing where you stand with your training finances, especially when you’re planning your training and development budget. Understanding how to manage your training budget, and forecasting future expenditures is an essential part of justifying the value of your training function.
Managing spreadsheets manually and tracking invoices via email causes headaches, is time-intensive, and is prone to errors. A training management system can help you monitor and manage your training budget, as well as plan for upcoming training expenses—in addition to helping ease the complexity of scheduling and resource management. This type of oversight helps you find efficiencies so that you can continue evolving the quality of your training program. A training management system can also help organizations avoid risk by providing a way to plan and manage certifications in compliance with industry regulations.
Deciding how to allocate your training budget and controlling your organization’s training investment decisions doesn’t have to be stressful if you have the right tools. When exploring training management systems, consider a solution with these financial performance and planning features:
Cost Management and Business Development Tools for L&D Teams
Optimize Training Budgets
The goal for learning teams is to make every cent of your training budget to deliver value. TMS software is equipped with an integrated budget management feature that allows you to define how much of your training budget will go into a particular area of your training program.
Track your remaining budget and compare actual expenses with your forecast. Simulate different budget scenarios to prioritize investments, use custom indicators to monitor spend and profitability, and anticipate your year-end budget.
As if that wasn’t enough, a training management system should allow you to manage internal invoicing easily by retrieving invoices directly from scheduling, leveraging automated mass invoicing, and tracking payments in real-time.
Sales and Profitability Monitoring
For training providers, delivering quality training isn’t a procedure, it’s a business. Whether you’re managing training via managed learning services or strengthening your network of partners with a learning program geared towards your extended enterprise, increasing course sales is a must. Running training as a business isn’t simple with just spreadsheets so you’ll want the ability to manage both public and private course ordering processes, track customer history, and synchronize with your existing CRM.
Real-Time Cost Tracking
We know the financial side of managing a training business can get a bit tricky when it comes to cost tracking, planning, budget optimization, and more. A training management system should give you access to a precise cost breakdown per session instead of per learner. Keep in mind that most Instructor-Led Training-related costs are fixed costs (rooms, instructor fees, etc.). Therefore, they need to be amortized.
In addition, your software system should compute costs based on actual resource usage and participant attendance. Your training expenses should be tracked for each performed training action.
Certification & License Tracking for Learners
It’s critical to be able to monitor training compliance with industry regulations (such as banking, insurance, and defense) plus state and country regulations, and add them into your training plans. You’ll want the ability to track this in your training management system so you can stay up to date on all certifications.
Training Program Management: Track Requirements for Multiple Learning Campaigns
If you’re in charge of forecasting future training, you know how important this feature is for planning your training operations. Having the ability to forecast future training volume, both for current employees and new hires is crucial. Not to mention, the ability to anticipate employee needs by their wants. A good solution should also allow you to arbitrate the forecast expenses to fit within your allocated budgets.
Top 20 Training Management System Features E-Book
Looking for a deeper dive? There’s more! For a comprehensive list of all training management system features that every administrator needs to effectively manage Instructor-Led Training (ILT) and virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT), download our e-book:
Top 20 Training Management System Features: The Complete Checklist
Meet Training Orchestra:
Powering Innovation in Training Management
For over 18 years, we’ve been helping 600+ organizations worldwide manage their instructor-led training operations and over $6B in training budgets. Training Orchestra can help you optimize classroom and virtual training operations: session scheduling, resource management, instructor calendars, vILT, cost tracking, and reporting. As a complement to your existing learning technologies, Training Orchestra can replace all XLS spreadsheets and manual tasks, so you can manage training as a business.
Interested in how you can improve ILT / vILT efficiency and do more with less? Contact us to learn more!
Up Next! More in our Training Management System Features Series:
- Training Operations and Logistics Features
- Training Scheduling and Resource Management Features
- Training Budget and Financial Performance and Planning Features – You’re here!
- Training Reporting Features
- Sales Cycle Management Features
