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Budget Strategies for Non-Profits in an Uncertain Economy
In a previous blog we talked about the unique challenges of budgeting in the not for profit sector (http://blog.xlerant.com/wordpress/unique-challenges-of-budgeting-in-not-for-profit ) We were overwhelmed by the response, and decided to follow it up with a live...
Budgeting: Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
According to a recent survey (multiple surveys in fact) most organizations are still using Excel for budgeting. Part of the explanation for that, of course, is “it’s free”. But it’s also because we in Finance have a bias for spreadsheets. No...
A Shout Out to Linda Murphy Church
Every once in a while the sun and the moon and the stars all align just right to deliver an exceptional webinar. Such was the case recently when Linda Murphy Church presented how she used the rigorous Malcolm Baldrige Award criteria to access a critical decision the...
The Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria and Better Software Purchasing
You’ve been through the drill before. Some process in your organization needs fixing and a team is formed to address it. Before you know it, you’re looking at software as a solution. That’s not a bad thing, but the way we go about it often is. The...
Unique Challenges of Budgeting in Not for Profit
Budgets matter in the not-for-profit world to a degree I rarely see in the for-profit world. In the for-profit world, the budget is just a snapshot in time. It can be forgotten about the first time the company produces a reforecast (which, incidentally, can be...
Solving Ambiguous Problems – What Successful Companies Get That the Rest of Us Don’t
I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with some of the best run companies over the years and I’ve come to appreciate what really separates them from “the merely good”. Some of what makes great companies so successful, like hiring great...
What a National Survey on Budgeting Reveals
XLerant recently completed a survey on budgeting and I wanted to share some of the highlights with you here. Budgeting is mission critical. You probably already knew that, but isn’t it comforting to know that a majority (over 90%) of your peers agree with you?...
Who is Raymond Panko… and why should you care?
Raymond Panko, a professor at the University of Hawaii, is the leading expert on spreadsheet errors. Who makes them, why they happen, what rate they’re seen in the average spreadsheet, you name it. He wrote a paper on the subject called What We Know About...
Rolling Forecast – A False Choice?
Instead of debating the relative merits of rolling forecasts over annual budgets, the right question to ask is “What’s the best way for us to plan in our organization?” Because maybe the answer involves elements of both. There’s an annual...
