Would you like to simplify the budgeting process and make your financial institution more efficient?

Are cumbersome, error-prone spreadsheets causing frustrations for your organization?

Is your budgeting and planning process becoming more complex each year?

Is your budget missing true profitability measures that include funds transfer pricing and cost allocations?

Is your process for getting budget input from front-line managers cumbersome and time consuming to administer?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions – you’ve come to the right place. 

Here are some key steps financial managers can take before the budgeting process begins, to alleviate the pain of budgeting season:

1. Make sure everyone signs off on the strategic plan.  The fiscal budget is the financial support for the strategic plan.  One way to get buy-in to the budgeting process is to get strategic sign off.
   
2. Hold budgeters accountable to their budget while rewarding them for progress toward achieving strategic goals. Consider creating a compensation plan that balances strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) with short term budget variances of loan and deposit account volume and rates, fee income growth and operating expense control.
3. Ensure the management team is involved in the entire financial management process.  The more they understand and are involved in the process, the quicker the budgeting process will be. 
   
4. Get the proper tools in place.  Some important things to look for when evaluating systems that will make life easier for all involved are:

• Designed specifically for financial institutions
• Integration with the core operating system
• Ability to create a budget from the strategic forecast
• Easy to use financial reporting tools
• Integrated budgeting tools for both front-line managers and administrators

Here at our Financial Performance Knowledge Center, you can access well-rounded resources and information about upcoming events, educational videos, demos, white papers, archived webinars, product briefs, case studies, thought leadership articles, technology developments, training, and more to help you with all of your budgeting needs.