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For further information on MFC consulting prices, please download this file.

All of our training modules are specifically designed for microfinance practitioners in the region and are based on the world's best practises of the microfinance industry. They deal with the most important issues that MFIs face in their operational and strategic management.

For more information please contact Aldona Rutkowska (aldona@mfc.org.pl)

• Business Planning and Financial Modeling for MFIs ("Microfin") download in Russian
• Delinquency Management and Setting Sustainable Interest Rates download in Russian
• Financial Analysis for Microfinance Institutions download in Russian
• Fundamentals of Accounting for Managers of Microfinance Institutions download in Russian
• How to Plan and Start a Microfinance Program download in Russian
• Human Resource Management in MFIs download in Russian
• Introduction to Impact Assessment and Market Research download in Russian
• Loan Portfolio Management download in Russian
• New Product Development for MFIs download in Russian
• Operational Risk Management in MFIs. Internal Control and Audit download in Russian
• Training for Loan Officers download in Russian
• Staff Incentive Systems for MFIs download in Russian
• Strategic Marketing for MFIs download in Russian

In addition to open enrolment courses, we provide in house courses for individual organizations. They can be the same as open enrolment courses or a combination of topics.

MFC trainers and consultants are themselves practitioners in microfinance and have an extensive experience and technical know-how to share. Consultants are able to work in English, Russian, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, Ukrainian and Polish.

The following topics are the main areas in which MFC consultants have special expertise. Each assignment is tailored to the specific needs of the client.

• Setting up and/or Evaluating Operations
• Accounting
• Delinquency Management and Financial Analysis
• Client Assessment, Market Research and Product Development
• Strategic Planning
• Program Evaluation

This intensive training course is specially designed for organizations, which have less than 2 years of experience in implementing a microcredit program or plan to start one. It is highly recommended that the Executive Director, the Finance Director and/or a Credit Officer represent each organization.

This is an introductory course that will cover the basics of planning and starting a microcredit program. The following topics will be covered in the workshop:

• The Operation Environment for Microcredit Programs
• The Impact of Microcredit Programs
• The Characteristics of Microenterprises and Microloans
• Loan Analysis and Loan Processing (introduction to simple ratio analysis of loan requests, other key aspects of loan analysis and the review of the entire loan processing cycle with the emphasis on streamlining the efficiency)
• A review of Major Lending Methodologies (individual and group lending, and village banking)
• Operational Efficiency, focusing on the Loan Officers' use of time
• Introduction to financial planning using the CGAP-developed Static Viability model
• Organizational Chart and Growth
• Viability and Sustainability Issues
• Portfolio management:
  

  Planning loan portfolio
  Defining and measuring portfolio quality
  Delinquency Ratios with the focus on PAR
  Loan Portfolio Tracking system

This four-day intensive training course focuses on microfinance best practice for prudential accounting and financial management in MFIs. It deals with the one of the most important planning and management issues faced by MFIs. It is based on CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) training manuals, adapted to accommodate the needs of practitioners in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States.

It teaches the basics of accounting as they relate to microfinance. It explains how to record and summarise transactions and how to create the most commonly used financial statements: the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement and the Statement of the Change in Financial Position. After working through the materials, the participants will have an understanding of accounting principles, methodologies and procedures which will aid them is using accounting data as a tool for financial management.

The course ends with the Microfinance Accounting Game "Balancing Act" developed by Barbara Calvin, Jennifer Harold, Joanna Ledgerwood and Kerry Moloney of Calmeadow. This game consolidates and applies material learned in the Accounting course. It takes players through a year in the life of the microfinance institution by moving them around a gameboard that contains scenarios of transactions that occur when operating any micro-loan fund. Transactions include disbursing and collecting loans, incurring operational expenses, accessing various forms of debt and investing excess funds. Participants learn how to enter each transaction into an organization's financial records and how each ultimately affects the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement.

• Introduction to Accounting
• Double Entry Accounting
• Main Accounting Principles in the context of Microfinance
• Financial and Managerial Accounting
• Accrual and Cash Accounting
• Accounting for Interest, Donor Funds and Concessional Funds
• Overview of MFI reports & Financial Statements � Balance Sheet, Income Statements, Cash Flows
• Recording Transactions of an MFI
• Journal Entries
• Ledgers and Posting Entries
• Creating a Trial Balance
• Making Accounting Adjustments
• Creating Financial Statements
• Analysis of Financial Statements
• The Balancing Act game

This four-day intensive training coursedeals with the most important planning and management issues faced by MFIs. It is based on CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) training manuals, adapted to accommodate the needs of practitioners in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States. It focuses on microfinance best practice program management and design.

The course provides participants with techniques and tools to improve financial services and sustainability by conducting comprehensive financial analysis, which is a basis for making sound managerial decisions. It gives an opportunity to apply technical tools for measuring delinquency, ways to assess and maintain a healthy loan portfolio, measure efficiency and profitability - factors crucial to the MFI's sustainability.

The objectives of this Course include:

• helping participants to understand the financial position of their MFIs,
• using financial analysis to improve their institutions� sustainability.

• identify components, purpose, relationships and importance of primary financial statements,
• format income statements and balance sheets in such a way that the effect of donor funds can be easily identified,
• analyze financial statements to monitor profitability, efficiency and portfolio quality,
• adjust costs for inflation, subsidized cost of funds and in-kind donations,
• apply financial analysis tools in own institution to improve decision making and program performance,
• identify critical factors for moving towards financial sustainability.

Participants should have a vital professional interest in microlending and work directly in the field of microfinance. It is recommended that the top management level staff attends the course (executive and financial directors, chief accountants, credit directors, their deputies etc.) as well as middle management. The course is extremely valuable to the donor representatives who fund and monitor microfinance organizations.

• Understanding Causes and Costs of Delinquency
• Measuring Delinquency (Calculating Portfolio Quality Ratios)
• Measuring Delinquency (Provisions, Reserves, Write-offs)
• Controlling Delinquency
• Managing a Delinquency Crisis
• Interest Rates and Microfinance
• Setting Sustainable Interest Rates
• Effective Interest Rates
• Cost of Credit from the Borrower's perspective
• Confronting Barriers to Sustainable Interest Rates

Growing competition among microfinance institutions (MFIs), increasing client desertion , low portfolio quality or/and limited outreach require a new approach in assessing microfinance client needs. The microfinance commitment to sustainability and trend to commercialization don�t go hand in hand with the inappropriate blueprint system and products that many of MFIs still use or offer. To be able to keep up with the industry trends and stay in the market, the MFIs need to improve their product and services to be more client-responsive.

Introduction to Client Assessment Training Course is offered to MFI managers to help them be more client oriented and learn from their customers to enhance social and financial performance of their MFIs. The training course focuses on different approaches to client assessment and provides their cost-benefit analysis. Presentation of the client assessment process and introduction of the available menu of client assessment tools during the training allows the participants to go back to their institutions knowing which approach is best for their MFI and how to successfully implement it.

The course follows the client assessment scheme (see the chart) and is carried out in a form of a case study. This gives the participants opportunity to go through the whole client assessment process, learn from the experience of the case study institution "IDEA" and then replicate the process in their MFIs. The training uses participatory techniques and adult learning methodology which makes it more effective and fun at the same time.

During the four days of the training course the following topics will be covered:

• Introduction to Impact Assessment and Market Research
• Approaches to Client Assessment
• Impact Assessment Tools
• Market Research Tools
• Client Assessment Application
• Client Assessment Tools Selection
• Focus Group Discussion - Process and Techniques
• Focus Group Discussion - Simulation
• Client Assessment Result Analysis
• Change Management
• Development of Work Plans

This four-day training course is specially designed for organizations, which focus on improving their efficiency through enhanced loan officer productivity. This is a generic course suitable for both individual and group lending methodologies which places an emphasis on understanding the client, her/his financial needs and business cycles, streamlined procedures and detailed loan analysis for delinquency prevention.

It is recommended that significant amount of the field work be incorporated into the schedule. Specific issues that are on the list of priorities of the MFI management can also be included into the agenda on as-needed basis.

• Goals and Objectives of Microcredit � putting Loan Officer job into a wider perspective
• Principles behind successful microfinance service delivery
• Why Microfinance programs fail
• What is a microenterprise � understanding clients� specifics
• Understanding of the Loan Product (characteristics of microloans � amount, term, interest rate, repayment schedule, guarantee)
• Business cycles and microbusinesses (differences between trade, service and production businesses)
• Steps in the lending process (why policies and procedures are important to Loan Officers)
• Screening clients � why and how?
• Interest Rates in microfinance
• Loan Analysis - 5 "Cs" of lending
• Financial Analysis of the microbusiness
• Loan Analysis - Development of current budgets (trade, production and services)
• Loan Analysis - Balance Sheets
• Loan Analysis - Income Statement
• Using Ratios for Financial Analysis
• Loan Analysis - Cash Flow
• Communication Skills
• Loan Officer Productivity
• Loan Officer time management
• Delinquency prevention and controls
• Wrap Up of the course

Participants should have a vital professional interest in microlending and work directly in the field of microfinance.

This CGAP-developed course addresses the issues of strategic and operational planning which are vital to the successful development of the microfinance institutions. A step-by-step framework for developing a business plan and financial projections for microfinance institutions is thoroughly reviewed during the course. The comprehensive business-planning framework separates the planning process into strategic and operational elements. A sophisticated financial modelling tool, �Microfin�, will also be explored in depth.

The workshop will be based on the recently published CGAP Handbook, Business Planning and Financial Modelling for Microfinance Institutions. The course is structured to be highly participatory, with participants applying the business-planning framework to a detailed case study throughout the training, including extensive computer-based exercises using the Microfin model.

The course will give participants the tools to:

• define the steps in a strategic plan, based on a market approach, and apply that plan in their MFI
• outline a market research approach to determine who and where the clients are
• analyse the environment and determine the opportunities and threats it provides
• assess their own institution, identifying strengths and weaknesses
• create a strategy and build an operational plan based on that strategy
• design financial products and delivery systems that support the strategy and are achievable, given the environment and the MFI�s capacity
• generate a financial strategy using Microfin that demonstrates an understanding of how to project income and expenses, as well as financial sources and flows.

• Key Concepts in Business Planning
• Introduction to Strategic Planning
• Introduction to Operational Planning & Financial Modelling
• Setting up the Model
• Designing Financial Products
• Marketing Channels and Portfolio Projections
• Institutional Capacity: Loan Loss and Case Loads
• Institutional Capacity: Staffing and Operational Expenses and Projections
• Institutional Capacity: Fixed Assets and Administration
• Financing Strategy
• Financial Statements and Financial Analysis
• Additional Features of Microfin

• Clear understanding of key financial and portfolio management concepts and terminology used in microfinance
• Solid command of setting up and manipulating Microsoft Excel spreadsheets through prior, regular usage of Excel on the job
• Clear understanding of basic accounting terminology and concepts used in microfinance

Operational Risk Management is the latest addition to CGAP�s (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) Skills for Microfinance Managers curriculum. This course helps microfinance institutions develop and improve the quality of their own risk management processes and focuses on problem prevention and early problem identification and control. It has been designed to accommodate the needs of practitioners in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States. It focuses on microfinance best practice program management and design.

This course provides guidelines for establishing operational activities that assist the MFI in identifying vulnerabilities, designing and implementing controls and monitoring the effectiveness of controls.
The goal of the course is to improve the quality of risk management in Microfinance Institutions.

• Risk management definition as it applies specifically to microfinance
• Identification of risk areas for MFIs
• Development of internal controls
• Role of Information Systems in ORM
• Internal audit
• External audit

In most of MFIs, loan portfolio management is based on keeping a close grip on the quality of every single loan on the book of an MFI. Successful microfinance institutions have development unique techniques to evaluate, monitor and manage the risk of credit default. Few MFIs, however have gone into development of portfolio management systems which allow for an active management of portfolio diversification.

The objective of this course is to equip the course participants with a good understanding of variety of tools and approaches to successfully and actively managing a microfinance loan portfolio.

• Definition of the dimensions of credit risk
• Balancing administrative and risk costs
• Managing the credit risk of a single loan
• Credit scoring
• Repayment incentives
• Monitoring credit risk-indicators
• Risk-based provisioning
• Overview portfolio risk management techniques
• Sector risks
• Portfolio limit systems
• Establishing a comprehensive credit policy
• Managing problem borrowers (including rescheduling and refinancing)
• Branch portfolio management in a profit center approach

• Introduction to Product Development
• What is Product Development
• Overview of Product Development
• Market Research and Product Development
• Design
• Costing
• Pricing
• Prototype Testing
• Product Roll out

Creating a leading micro-finance organization takes more than charging the right price and knowing how to design an offer. It entails knowing the specific skills your organization needs, identifying the right people who have those skills, compensating your staff adequately to retain them in your organization, and creating a work environment that promotes employee commitment to your organization.

What does HR have to do with accomplishing our strategic Business plans? Isn't HR just being nice to our staff? We don't have time for HR, trying to reach self-sufficiency is much more important!

If any of these statements sound familiar then this course is definitely for you!

This four-day course is intended to help you develop a capable team of employees in order to maximize the effectiveness of your organization.

• Recognize and appreciate importance of effective Human Resource Management for microfinance operations
• Understand the key functions of the Human Resource Management
• Become familiar with systems and structures that support effective Human Resource Management
• Review systems and tools used in Human Resource Management

• Management and leadership
• The key steps in an effective recruitment and selection process
• The critical steps of a Staff Performance Management Process
• Training and staff development plans

Managers of micro-finance institutions with responsibilities in hiring, firing and managing staff, and responsible for achieving the organizations' goals

As it is known, salary burden amounts up to 70% of total administrative expenses and any changes in its level and structure may have an important impact on the MFI's performance. It therefore deserves management's full attention. The best practice has shown that the use of incentive systems may radically improve the MFI's performance indicators. However, poorly designed incentive system may cause a real crisis.

Our course will help to answer the question how to reach organization's goals by skillful influence on the staff salary structure through effective incentive systems.

At our course you will learn:

• Why the staff incentive systems are needed? What to start their design with? How to avoid mistakes in designing staff incentive schemes?
• Principles of incentive systems design and their main types
• Factors that should be taken into consideration during incentive systems development
• How to build the appropriate incentive schemes for the different functional areas of the MFI, mainly:
  -for loan officers
  -for savings staff
  -for administrative and supporting personnel
  -for top and middle management
• Our course will also provide you with the overview of the staff incentive system development process for your MFI
• You will be able to calculate costs and benefits related to the system�s introduction
• You will see the various examples of different incentive systems from the existing MFIs
• Last but not least, you will be able to use your knowledge in practice playing the role of experts and giving recommendations on incentive systems modernization.

Like all the other MFC courses, this training will use the most modern participatory techniques and adult learning methodology. A number of interesting exercises, calculations and role plays will make the course more effective and fun at the same time.

"Staff Incentive Systems" training course was developed by our Center on the basis of "A Toolkit for Designing Staff Incentive Schemes" MicroSave-Africa. The author of this toolkit is Martin Holtmann-the leading international specialist in this field.

The course is beneficial for MFI's top and middle management (directors, financial directors, loan managers, chief accountants, branch managers etc.) as well as for MFI Board members who would like to improve the organization's performance with the help of introduction and modernization of incentive schemes for their personnel.

Strategic Marketing is a training course developed by MicroSave, but adapted and tested in the Region of CEE and NIS by Microfinance Center which is in a strategic partnership with MicroSave.

The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the Strategic Marketing Framework, the three primary strategies and the four information packages that inform them. It also provides an introduction to the process of a marketing audit to assess an organisation�s marketing strategies and systems as well as the process of developing a marketing plan (at organisational or individual product level).

The Strategic Marketing Framework
The three 1st tier strategies focus on:

• Corporate Brand and Identity, which is particularly important in competitive environments, and especially (but not exclusively) for those MFIs offering savings services.
• Product Strategy,which encompasses product development and differentiation, costing/ pricing and sales/promotion strategies used by MFIs.
• Product Delivery and Customer Service Strategy,which focuses on how and where the MFI's products are delivered and the customer experience.
  

• For long-term sustainability of MFIs (currently often undermined by drop-outs/desertions;
• As part of the maturing of the microfinance market and its march towards commercialisation;
• To broaden the range of microfinance clients-both up and down market-beyond the market traders;
• To realise real change in the livelihoods of clients and to reduce their vulnerability; and
• For MFIs in competitive environments (and desirable everywhere).

The transition to a market-led approach to microfinance often starts with relatively modest product development, but those MFIs seriously committed to this soon find that a market orientation requires long-term and fundamental changes in approach, mind-set and systems of almost every part of their business.

In order to function properly, the internal organization of work, proper policies and procedures, and an appropriate checks and balances system must be in place. MFC consultants can offer assistance in the following areas:

• setting up, implementing and/or evaluating policies and procedures for lending
• setting up, implementing and/or evaluating policies and procedures for internal control
• setting up, implementing and/or evaluating policies and procedures for delinquency management
• evaluating existing operations and providing a framework for improvement

MFC consultants are skilled in microfinance best practice for prudential accounting and financial management in MFIs. Assistance is focused on:

• teaching the basics of accounting as they relate to microfinance
• how to record and summarize transactions and how to create the most commonly used financial statements
• covering accounting principles, methodologies and procedures
• provide insights on using accounting data as a tool for financial management

Uncontrolled delinquency and weak financial analysis can mean life or death to a financial institution. To this end, MFC consultants will provide expertise in:

• transferring know-how on the technical tools for controlling delinquency
• ways to assess and maintain a healthy loan portfolio
• increasing the skills of management in measuring and maintaining efficiency and profitability
• how to increase responsiveness of the institution towards its clients
• how to improve financial services and sustainability by setting realistic interest rates

Growing competition among MFIs, increasing client desertion, low portfolio quality and limited outreach require a new approach in assessing microfinance client needs. To be able to keep up with the industry trends and stay in the market, MFIs need to improve their product and services to be more client-responsive. Depending on to what degree management is interested in institutionalizing client assessment and market research techniques, MFC consultants can provide the know-how necessary to the staff, or conduct and assessment exercise for the institution. Since client assessment is a key element of product and service development (whether new or modified), consultants can also guide the MFI through the steps needed in adapting the results from the assessment.

Related to this topic, MFC is capable of providing assistance in the following areas:

• Developing client information needs map and strategy for data collection
• Developing client monitoring systems including impact monitoring, poverty targeting and profiling, exit tracking
• Satisfaction and loyalty studies
• Exploratory client studies on reasons for low demand, drop-out, delinquency and competition
• Impact assessment for donor and external stakeholders
• Impact assessment for internal use of MFIs
• Client segmentation
• Image and branding studies
• Product development and refinement
• Market studies for product diversification and expansion to new markets
• Socio-economic studies on local populations and program clientele
• Developing internal research units
• Training in research methods including research methodology, qualitative and quantitative, conventional and participatory tools and projective techniques
• Desk studies, development of questionnaires, monitoring forms
• Statistical processing of quantityative data and qualitative data analysis

Strategic Planning is a systematic method of planning for the future built on the base of an organization's mission, vision, and values. A consulting assignment in strategy typically involves the following steps:

• historical analysis of the organization
• assessing the current and future environment within which the MFI competes or operates
• process modeling and process mapping
• developing or reviewing the MFIs mission, vision, and values
• identifying strengths and weaknesses
• drafting with the MFI management team a strategic planning initiative
• designing a process that fits with the MFIs time frame, resources and other characteristics
• implementation planning and phasing
• providing recommendations about the best staff structure to meet the organization's goals and resources
• facilitating meetings and activities that lead to the desired outcomes
• coaching management in the development and implementation of a strategic plan

MFI programs (and/or projects) often require periodic evaluations from third parties. MFC consultants are capable of:
• providing a comprehensive analysis of MFI programs
• offering solid recommendations for improvement
• evaluate each program light of its own mission and objectives, and with respect to best practices in the industry
• draft professional evaluation report, including recommendations for design of follow on programs

• Provides MFIs an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis of financial performance relative to microfinance industry standards
• Identifies institutional weaknesses and pinpoints areas for improvement (especially if the MFI considers transformation into a regulatory institution)
• Guides management decisions as well as the efforts of technical assistance teams
• Provides funders and potential investors with an objective method to evaluate and verify an MFI's performance

• Evaluations are conducted by a CAMEL team working on site for 7 to 15 business days.
• The team conducts a comprehensive qualitative assessment, interviewing both staff and borrowers to understand the day-to-day operations of the microfinance institution.
• The team examines and adjusts financial information and completes a detailed quantitative assessment.
• After analyzing the qualitative and quantitative information, the team assigns a score to each area examined and computes an overall final rating.
• A detailed report is prepared and presented to the MFI's management and its board of directors. The results are kept confidential unless all the parties agree to disclose them.

Download in Russian

Under the PEMTE project (Pedagogical Environment for Microfinance Multicultural Training E-content) headed by Planet finance supported by the EU, Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States developed e-modules of an online training "Foundations for sustainable microfinance".

The aim of the project was to create a new training environment combining face-to-face training and Web-based training. Online training can be very useful especially in knowledge acquisition and skills development.

According to their profiles, the participants of this training will have the opportunity either to get familiar with new concepts, or to deepen their acquired knowledge. This phase will guarantee that the participants have the same background before attending a training session on site. Then, the face to face learning will be more oriented on practice and exchanges. During the online preparation, the participants will have enough time to assimilate new knowledge and know-how and to complement them with their professional practices.

"Foundations for Sustainable Microfinance" includes 6 online modules

• Module 1. Introduction
• Module 2. Microfinance Practice and Methodology
• Module 3. Microfinance Clients
• Module 4. Loan Analysis
• Module 5. Portfolio Quality
• Module 6. MFI Performance

Click HERE to access the online training