Managing the budget process at PepsiAs Financial professionals we tend to think in mathematical terms, and we assume others do to. So when we think about presenting something that is “user friendly” for budgeting, we set up mathematical equations for Budget Holders, and ask them to input their assumptions for missing variables. That’s how we wind up with # of… Read More |
Coaches are paid to win, not forecastIf you think planning and budgeting is about producing estimates of what might happen, that takes you in one direction. It’s all about variables and inputs and outputs. Rolling Forecast would appeal to you because it’s all about updating your estimates with updated variables. But if you believe it’s about goal setting and driving results,… Read More |
Rolling Forecast – a 3 Part SeriesThe question I get most frequently is “Do you believe in Rolling Forecast… is that what we should be doing?” A good, comprehensive answer to that question is addressed in an upcoming thee part blog series. Part one will look at the common problems of corporate planning and budgeting. That’s important because you want a… Read More |
Rolling Forecast. Part 1 – What problems are we solving?Before a doctor prescribes a course of treatment, she first will diagnose what your ailment is… or at least a good doctor will. Imagine how you’d react if you walked into your Doctor’s office with a backache and without asking you a single question she prescribed eye drops. I’m sure the eye drops are great… Read More |
Rolling Forecast. Part 2 – What is a Rolling Forecast?Most of us know what a Forecast is, or you wouldn’t even be a reader of this blog. It’s a projection. But what makes a rolling forecast, well… rolling? That’s the heart of the matter and that’s where we want to focus our attention. A rolling forecast is one where the assumptions of original projection… Read More |
Rolling Forecast. Part 3 – Assessment of Rolling ForecastIn 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 |
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 |
Should you involve your user community in solution development?When I first moved to Ireland with Pepsi, I brought a lot of New York headquarters ways with me. Some good, some bad. But one of those ways was in how to develop solutions to vexing problems. The foundation of solution development was always the formation of a cross functional team to bring together multiple… 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 |
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 |
