Part four of a blog series on budgeting challenges.
Use Technology to Tackle the Five Biggest Challenges to Budgeting
Make every dollar count for your organization’s future success.
4. Increase Accuracy of Revenue Projections
We’ve established that a unified software system that enables inter-departmental collaboration is essential for developing and managing your budgeting process. Since every organization’s goal is to stay in the black, how can technology also help with the other side of that equation . . . projecting accurate revenues? The ability to efficiently and easily track revenue from all sources in one system lets subsidiaries more accurately predict future trends based on historical data or a variety of other drivers. This, in turn, informs your decisions about how to best adjust expenditures and other projects to keep your budget out of the red.
Sound budgeting requires sound reporting . . . how else can you keep your finger on the pulse of your organization with constant vigilance over budget versus actual expenditures?
Don’t invest in any software system that doesn’t put the power of reporting right at the users’ fingertips.
Make sure your company-wide software solution can collect, allocate and report in real-time on revenue generated from any of the wide variety of income sources . . . from product sales to professional services, maintenance, interest income and more. This accurate accounting of revenue generation can be combined with other statistical data to more precisely estimate future budgeting needs. If, for example, you see a jump in a sales leading indicator, you know that you’ll need more sales staff focused in that region or on that product; therefore, you can proactively ensure the revenue increase is fully captured.
We all know that accurately forecasting revenues can be difficult for organizations. However, as we warned earlier in this article, subsidiaries/departments can not operate independently without running the risk of adversely affecting the organization as a whole. Having a system that provides a 360° view of your organization increases your ability to accurately project revenue and maintain an accurate forecast.
Ready to take the next step? Contact us to learn more!
