Probably the worst moments I had as a Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis when I was at Pepsi Cola International and Reader’s Digest; was when someone would say, “That’s not my number!” The embarrassment factor was a function of A) The level executives in the room… B) How late in the planning process we…    Read More

Some people think it’s only high powered, Fortune 500 companies that need to concern themselves with budgeting and planning. Yet from my experience, nonprofit organizations are just sophisticated and thoughtful about budgeting – maybe more so. Why is that? Partly out of necessity. If a nonprofit is sloppy about budgeting they run out of cash….    Read More

This mega trend is something that’s come full circle; and it’s such a major trend we’ve actually done a whole webinar on this topic… which you can find a link to on our website. It’s tough to boil a whole webinar down into a couple of slides, but let me give it a try. Think…    Read More

This trend recognizes that line managers and people in accounting speak different languages, and you need some way to interpret. Managers don’t think like accountants, at least not those managers outside of Finance. Here’s a really obvious example of that. If I grabbed an invoice at random and brought it to the manager who signed…    Read More

Keep in mind that there is a direct relationship between participation and a feeling of ownership. Here’s an example from your personal life. If I studied your spending patterns and how much money you make, I could come up with a savings plan for you. If I did, you’d probably politely thank me for all…    Read More

Every ERP System and General Ledger system today has some sort of budgeting module, undoubtedly yours does too. Or you’ve got some other choice other than Excel for budget development. But having said that, most organizations have rejected these alternatives have opted to stick with Excel. Why is that? Well they were not that impressed…    Read More

We have seen an amazing amount of changes to budgeting and planning over the last 18 months. So why now, what’s triggered these trends? Well, the first one is pretty obvious. It’s the economy stupid. The absolute need to do more with less. Budgeting is all about managing resources and that tends to get a…    Read More

Budgeting touches every corner of the organization, and if you’re involved in it you know the “exposure” you get (some people think of it as over-exposure). And if you consider that budgeting hits people where it counts (the wallet) then you know you can wind up being the most loved or hated person in the…    Read More