March 2014 - Carlson Management Consulting

“The budgeting process at most companies has to the be the most inefficient process in management.” CMC has developed proven steps that can dramatically improve this critical process.”

Ethan Carlson

March 1, 2014: Ethan Carlson, CEO of Carlson Management Consulting (CMC), a leading Cloud solutions and services provider with a growing list of clients nationwide, will provide an overview of planning and forecasting best practices. Budgeting, planning, and forecasting have been long viewed as one of the most poorly performed yet necessary functions in finance. Indeed, Jack Welch, the famed former CEO of General Electric, proclaimed “the budgeting process at most companies has to the be the most inefficient process in management.” Yet, CMC has developed proven steps that can dramatically improve this critical process.

With more than 60 successful implementations of corporate performance management software with clients in a broad range of industries, CMC has identified key factors and actions for planning and forecasting success. Ethan will present the following:

Why traditional planning and forecasting doesn’t work (and never did).
The CMC Five Key “Best Practices” in forecasting and planning.
The five actions you should get started with today to change the trajectory of your company and career!

Contact Carlson Management Consluting to learn more about how you can improve your business intelligence and budgeting processes today.

As famously proclaimed by former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, “the budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management.”

Most organizations’ budgeting process is not truly aligned with its strategy and key participants are unable to clearly articulate the connections.

One of the key reasons for ineffective budgeting is the disconnect between the budget and the company’s broader strategy. While it seems like an issue of common sense, most organizations’ budgeting process is not truly aligned with its strategy and key participants are unable to clearly articulate the connections. Aside from the mechanics and technology involved in budgeting, there is a human factor behind this problem – mainly, most companies do not have a culture of inclusion. Strategy is often a discussion that takes place at the executive level but unfortunately the resulting insights and decisions made are not permeated through the rest of the organization. Without knowledge of company strategy, the stakeholders who create and manage budgets do not know how they can impact it and where to most effectively allocate their spending and investments.

In order to better align budgets with strategy, here are some steps that CMC recommends:

1. Start every budget cycle with executive-level participation and insight into company strategy. Make sure it is clear how your strategy translates to business tactics and how every employee’s action and role has a direct impact on the success of this strategy. While almost every company has executive offsite sessions and develops or modifies a strategic plan, often the strategic objectives are never translated into the tactics of the business, the annual budget or financial forecast. The problem is that the individuals responsible for strategy and vision are not always the same people involved in creating the budget. Even when they are, the exercises are often not connected. Every member of the company needs to know how their role and actions help the company achieve its goals. The discussion of budgeting should be viewed as the mechanism to allocate resources to achieve strategic results. The budget is the conclusion of the strategy process. It is validation that the tactics will drive success and should not be perceived merely as a compulsory exercise. Executive management needs to drive this connection from the top.

Carlson Management Consulting to Present Planning and Forecasting Best Practices at IMA Chapter Meeting

Aligning Budget with Strategy