The Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria and Better Software PurchasingYou’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 team comes up with a requirements grid (often… Read More |
What’s the top priority of CFOs today?What’s the top priority of CFOs today? According to the Hackett Group, it is “Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the annual budgeting process.” A remarkable 84% of CFOs surveyed by this leading consulting firm said this was a priority. An area I think is related to improving the efficiency of the annual budget process… Read More |
We’re #1There are unpleasant surprises (a parking ticket on your windshield, for example) and then there are pleasant surprises. Well, XLerant received a very pleasant surprise recently being named the #1 Pick for Budgeting Software by Accounting-Payroll Software. Goodness knows there are a lot of alternatives out there, but BudgetPak is the only budgeting application that… Read More |
My day at EACUBOI had the pleasure of participating in the annual EACUBO workshop at the end of March. Hands down, it was one of the best events I’ve ever attended. For those of you who do not know EACUBO, the acronym stands for the Eastern Association of College & University Business Officers, and it is a regional… Read More |
Naked Budgeting(The Streaker of ’74 behind Oscar presenter David Niven) For those of you who are squeamish, I apologize for the Streaker of ’74. He won’t show up again in this post, but I have to get your attention somehow. Now on to more serious matters… When it comes to budgeting, most organizations are not that… Read More |
Is Your Budget Process Fair?I realize that the question isn’t one you stop and think about during the heat of the budget battle. There are templates to be created, links that need to be validated, formulas to be edited. And that’s just preparation! All of that work represents just a fraction of the time spent developing, reviewing and reworking… Read More |
It Takes A Village To Build A BudgetThere’s no doubt that Finance runs the budget process, and probably should. But we can get so focused on the mechanics of getting the budget done, that we can almost forget that it takes a village to build it. Let’s keep in mind that the purpose of budget process is to allocate resources, and a… Read More |
Someday is now… Somebody is youSomeday we’re going to make our budget process better… somebody should really do that. How often have you thought that? How often have you discussed that with the people you work with? Well… that some day is now, and that somebody is you. I know firsthand that leading an effort to redesign the planning process… Read More |
Budgeting to Strategy in Higher Education – A Recorded WebinarWe ran a webinar last week that drew a lot of attention in higher education. If you work for a college (or if you’re planning on sending your children to college) you want to watch this. As one person attending the event commented afterward, “We’ve been struggling with financial issues since 2008, and this is… Read More |
The Moon Shot for Higher Ed – Make College AffordableWhen President Kennedy challenged the country to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of the decade, it became known as “the moon shot.” The challenge was bold, the mission was clear, and everyone knew sacrifices had to be made to accomplish a great goal. The moon… Read More |