Budgets are the foundation for thriving businesses and a key tool for understanding performance. It is one of the best financial tools in a company’s toolbox— having this information in hand can help better identify points in a company’s profit and loss statements where it either performed really well or went completely off the rails. Especially as a company's financial situation will fluctuate over time.
Budget-to-actuals can also help businesses plan, manage and forecast an influx of cash from a loan, grant or series A. Moreover, proper accounting is likely a requirement for grants or investors.
Utilized correctly, a regular budget variance analysis can provide concrete steps to help a company save money, improve efficiencies, and contribute to business growth.
Related: Learn more about budget variances and budget-to-actuals
Need a starting point? Download our FREE budget to actual template
Don't dread this budget season - be prepared for it!
Download your free B2A analysis tool from your friends at Focused Energy. We're not going to sugarcoat it, this is a difficult task to initiate; it will require perseverance, diligence and application of effort to make this analysis a part of your monthly routine. But we're here to help!
Business planning and budgeting
Once a business is operational, it's vital to plan and oversee its financial performance. Creating a budgeting and planning process is the most effective way to keep an organization on track -- enabling a business to concentrate resources, improve profits, manage costs and increase revenues.
New to budgeting? Follow our six steps to starting a budget
