Costing Course

The Costing Course is designed to give you quick access to all the resources you need to undertake a spending review. Select the relevant step and click in the boxes below to access custom-made videos, slides, examples of previous spending reviews and much more!

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Welcome to the PEPA Knowledge Hub

This on-line Knowledge Hub was developed to provide you with a one-stop shop where you can find all the support material you need to assist you in completing your spending review. The knowledge hub will assist you to quickly access examples of previous national and provincial spending reviews as well as infographics summarizing the review in one page. The Knowledge Hub also provides a series of Excel support whereby various functions that one needs to complete a spending review are demonstrated. There are some Excel tips and tricks provided to allow you to work with spreadsheets in a quick and convenient way.

Companion Guide

This spending review guide is easy to download, print and use as a workbook. It provides step-by-step guidance to conduct a spending review and answers the following questions:

Institutional Mapping and Analysis
Institutional Mapping and Analysis
Process Maps and Theory of Change
Performance Indicators and Measurement
Expenditure Analysis
Cost Modelling and Appraisals
Spending Review Report

During this step, you will get to understand the key stakeholders in a programme and their inter- relationships. You will provide a problem statement pertaining the programme in question and identify key policies, laws and regulations. At the end of this step, you will be able to identify who is involved in the design and implementation of the programme and all the other role players, map the flow of funds and map service delivery processes.

During this step you will get to understand exactly how the programme works, what the underlying assumptions were and use this information to map the processes involved in delivering the programme.

During this step, you will identify the performance indicators as well as the administrative information. This will help you to analyse performance trends and patterns. This step requires some skill in the development of indicators and gathering relevant administrative information. The step is critical in order to assess quality of outputs, efficiency in resource utilization and economy in procurement.

During this step you will consolidate and clean raw expenditure data, and create ‘expenditure buckets’. This will allow you to analyse the expenditure to identify different trends and patterns. Once all the analysis is done opportunities for savings can be identified.

During this step, you will identify the drivers of programme costs, build a costing model and then explore the fiscal implications of different decisions via scenarios. This modelling process allow you to identify policy choices, expenditure cuts and savings, as well as trade-offs between the different scenarios.

During this last step, you will have time to write your report using the spending review format. It is important to write a concise report that flows logically and has a clear structure, especially if you need to help non-experts to understand those ideas and see their value. The report should present a cogent argument based on sound technical analysis.

Companion Guide

This spending review guide is easy to download, print and use as a workbook. It provides step-by-step guidance to conduct a spending review and answers the following questions:

Institutional Map

During this step, you will get to understand the key stakeholders in a programme and their inter- relationships. You will provide a problem statement pertaining the programme in question and identify key policies, laws and regulations. At the end of this step, you will be able to identify who is involved in the design and implementation of the programme and all the other role players, map the flow of funds and map service delivery processes.

Process map and LogFrame

During this step you will get to understand exactly how the programme works, what the underlying assumptions were and use this information to map the processes involved in delivering the programme.

Indicators and Performace Analysis

During this step, you will identify the performance indicators as well as the administrative information. This will help you to analyse performance trends and patterns. This step requires some skill in the development of indicators and gathering relevant administrative information. The step is critical in order to assess quality of outputs, efficiency in resource utilization and economy in procurement.

Expenditure Analysis

During this step you will consolidate and clean raw expenditure data, and create ‘expenditure buckets’. This will allow you to analyse the expenditure to identify different trends and patterns. Once all the analysis is done opportunities for savings can be identified.

Costing

During this step, you will identify the drivers of programme costs, build a costing model and then explore the fiscal implications of different decisions via scenarios. This modelling process allow you to identify policy choices, expenditure cuts and savings, as well as trade-offs between the different scenarios.

Spending Review Report

During this last step, you will have time to write your report using the spending review format. It is important to write a concise report that flows logically and has a clear structure, especially if you need to help non-experts to understand those ideas and see their value. The report should present a cogent argument based on sound technical analysis.

Infographics

‘I have to state that this is the best course I have attended in my 14 years for service in the public service. I am now equipped to do my work better as a budget analyst, PMTEC assessments and my monthly expenditure analyses reports will never be the same again’

Budget Analyst, Free State and Northern Cape