Category Archives: annual planning

Cost Center Owner – If You Don’t Own the Budget for Your Department – You Should!

As a cost center owner, have you found yourself being asked to approve expenses, but you have no clue where they came from? You know you have a budget, but do you truly understand how it was developed or how you are supposed to work with it on a daily, monthly, quarterly and annual basis?

In the course of the budgeting process, an isolated group often prepares budgets in a vacuum, failing to include the right people in the process. accounting-57284This leads to confusion and frustration when the budget-to-actual expense is compared each month. I have often experienced meetings where budget-to-actual variances are discussed and the manager approving the actual expense (a) has no idea how the budget was prepared and (b) cannot answer any questions about the budget-to-actual variance for the month. This leads to the Board, President and Senior Leaders reviewing and approving a budget based on inaccurate information. They may have unrealistic expectations when planning for the next year as the expenses budgeted in each cost center is inaccurate. Make sure your budget process is well planned out and includes all the responsible parties.

Please contact me if you would like to have your budget process reviewed to learn how to include all of the right contributors, avoid setting unrealistic expectations and finding surprise variances each month.

Why is Preparing a Budget Without a Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Like Driving a Car in a New City with an Old GPS?

Cars built in the early 2000s that had a built-n GPS required periodic updates using a CD with new roads and street addresses. If you are still driving around with a GPS of that era, you already know that when you get to a new construction area, the GPS will confuse you more than help you get to your destination. This analogy is similar to preparing an annual income statement for a budget without updated information. iStock_000019083488_LargeThe annual income statement will show the projected revenue and expenses – but will leave out critical pieces of information vital to the day-to-day planning of a business. Here’s an example of what I mean: revenue is highly seasonal but expenses are spread throughout the year, causing issues with covering expenses month to month. Actual cash flow and the ability to cover debt service payments are not analyzed solely with an income statement. Another example: internally developed software can cost a lot of money; the cash required for the development is maintained on the Balance Sheet and not the Income Statement.

Lack of proper planning and analysis, and failure to prepare a projected-by-month Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow can lead to an unplanned cash crisis. Please contact Mindy Barker & Associates if you would like to have your budget process reviewed to determine how you can avoid such crises each month.