Creating action plans with budget in mind
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 10:55 am
It’s not too early to start thinking about your year-end planning and budgeting goals for 2012, especially if you’re considering upgrading a business system or purchasing software, which will require some research and advance planning. Convincing your IT department and CFO to support your request will require some fact-based persuasion. This article provides a step-by-step approach to help you translate your department’s needs into a budget-based action plan that you can present to your finance team.Creating a Budget Action Plan
Determine the needs
Customer service and productivity issues need to be broken down and translated into financial terms. To convince senior executives to invest in a solution, you will need to define your efforts in terms of dollars, impact, and profit margins. This allows you to assess the total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI).
These terms may seem foreign and far removed from the vague how does cash app work phrase “We need a better way to do this!” realization that you’ve started thinking about purchasing software. Don’t worry; some advance planning and research will help you move confidently into the budgeting stage.
Somewhere deep down, you’ve probably been operating with a subtle, gnawing worry that the inefficiencies you’ve been fighting are actually becoming dangerous. Perhaps frustration over delays, mistakes, and communication gaps is starting to mount. Perhaps you’re still in the “wonder and worry” stage.
It is not always clear when a new solution will be profitable or will deliver an ROI acceptable to senior management. Several hard-to-define factors, such as employee frustration levels and the risk of losing valuable customers, make it difficult to include hard numbers in a forecasted profitability analysis. Some terms may need to be defined or added to the corporate vocabulary. What exactly constitutes on-time delivery? How much is each satisfied customer worth to the company?
In order to take meaningful action, it is important to look beyond isolated examples of mistakes and disappointments and take the time to take a serious look at the hard financial data.
Budgeting requires translating your headaches and potential solutions into generally accepted accounting principles. Not only will this help you justify the cost of your ideas to your management team, but it will also help you refine your strategies and prioritize which areas are most likely to deliver the fastest ROI and create momentum.
Determine the needs
Customer service and productivity issues need to be broken down and translated into financial terms. To convince senior executives to invest in a solution, you will need to define your efforts in terms of dollars, impact, and profit margins. This allows you to assess the total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI).
These terms may seem foreign and far removed from the vague how does cash app work phrase “We need a better way to do this!” realization that you’ve started thinking about purchasing software. Don’t worry; some advance planning and research will help you move confidently into the budgeting stage.
Somewhere deep down, you’ve probably been operating with a subtle, gnawing worry that the inefficiencies you’ve been fighting are actually becoming dangerous. Perhaps frustration over delays, mistakes, and communication gaps is starting to mount. Perhaps you’re still in the “wonder and worry” stage.
It is not always clear when a new solution will be profitable or will deliver an ROI acceptable to senior management. Several hard-to-define factors, such as employee frustration levels and the risk of losing valuable customers, make it difficult to include hard numbers in a forecasted profitability analysis. Some terms may need to be defined or added to the corporate vocabulary. What exactly constitutes on-time delivery? How much is each satisfied customer worth to the company?
In order to take meaningful action, it is important to look beyond isolated examples of mistakes and disappointments and take the time to take a serious look at the hard financial data.
Budgeting requires translating your headaches and potential solutions into generally accepted accounting principles. Not only will this help you justify the cost of your ideas to your management team, but it will also help you refine your strategies and prioritize which areas are most likely to deliver the fastest ROI and create momentum.