Why now? Why are changes to budgeting happening now?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 |
15 Things You Can’t Do in Excel for Budgeting: #2#2- You can’t have executives electronically sign off on budgets underneath them. We’ve all been there. You’re sitting in a budget review meeting and an executive says, “That can’t be right, you don’t have the right budget.” It seems the higher up the executive is making that statement, the longer the silence that follows… I… Read More |
15 Things You Can’t Do in Excel for Budgeting: #1#1 You can’t tell where everyone is in the process. The first thing you can’t do in Excel is tell where everybody is in the process. You know who’s submitted a spreadsheet to you and that’s about it. There’s nothing to give you visibility into the work in process. You don’t know who’s started and… Read More |
Meanwhile, CFOs Enjoy More InfluenceCFO Research finds the financial crisis boosted the profile of finance chiefs. Struggling economy, having to do more with less, what’s not to like? The good news for Finance chiefs is that many believe their stature has been elevated during the economic downturn. That’s according to a recent survey by CFO Magazine and Expense Reduction… Read More |
Why budgets are not Excel-ingExcel is the #1 financial modeling tool on the planet. And unless you look outside of Microsoft Office, it’s the obvious choice for budgeting. That’s the reason why 80% of all organizations continue to use Excel for budgeting. But here are some common complaints heard every day: The process takes too long The process doesn’t… Read More |
The Boys from BrazilLast week was an interesting week for me. I met with a team of 13 sales professionals from Latin America, all from a global ERP vendor. They came to Miami, Florida from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Mexico (and despite the title of this blog, half the attendees were women). They came because… Read More |
Budgeting: A Career Maker… A Career Breaker?The reason why managing the budget process is a high wire act should be obvious. 1) Every corner of the organization is involved or impacted by the process in some way. 2) The process impacts people where it hurts – their wallets. 3) The most senior ranks of the organization are engaged in the 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 |
