Lock and Key - XLerant

Why locking down spreadsheet templates doesn’t work

We have discussed in this blog a big concept – Explicit Budgets for projects or initiatives. But not every department really needs that degree of sophistication. Sometimes it’s the small things that can improve communication. Like allowing managers to easily add justifications and detail. For example, we have a client that has an Administrative Services…    Read More

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Businessman on Tightrope - XLerant

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

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Broken Excel - XLerant

Why budgets are not Excel-ing

Excel 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

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Smartphone Map - XLerant

You can’t create an Interactive BudgetMap in Excel

Here’s a fundamental problem with the budget process we wanted to address. People don’t like budgeting. That’s really the elephant in the living room we’re all trying to navigate around, isn’t it? Here are some of the words I’ve heard line managers and department heads use to describe budgeting: Stressful… Intimidating… Frustrating… Confusing. I’ve heard…    Read More

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Rolling Wheels - XLerant

Rolling Forecast. Part 3 – Assessment of Rolling Forecast

In part one of this series we looked at the common problems that organizations have with the annual planning/ budgeting process. Recognizing of course that most companies do forecasting as well, we looked at the annual planning process as a proxy for the processes companies deploy year-round to develop financial projections. In part two of…    Read More

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Spreadsheet - XLerant

Why Locked Down Budget Templates Are Failing You

Excel is an incredibly flexible tool. Anyone who’s worked with it for more than a week knows that. It’s a blank canvass where you can write any formula your imagination can conceive. But when it comes to using Excel for budgeting, Excel becomes the exact opposite of flexible. It becomes rigid as stone. And this…    Read More

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Ambiguous Problems - XLerant

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 talent, is quite obvious. But in this blog I’d like to share one of…    Read More

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CFO Lighbulb - XLerant

CFO Mag Article on Winning Over Your Budget Holders

A possible solution [to getting line managers to become willing participants in the budget process] says John Hagerty, vice president and research fellow at AMR Research, would be to create a more intuitive, text-based interface for budgeting software. “Instead of forcing people into a form that’s easier for you, you could pull from them the…    Read More

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