For many organizations the start of a new fiscal year provides an opportunity to set forth new goals and objectives for the year ahead. But in order to achieve those envisioned goals, it’s important to think about your available resources and how you can best maximize them. To effectively do this, you’ll want to first review your overall annual budget controls and then develop a detailed spend plan.
Budget Your Resources
One of the first steps you should take when mapping out your yearly spend plan is to review your historical execution (at least the two fiscal years) to identify any must fund re-occurring requirements. This ensures that you account for what is considered as part of your “baseline”.
Secondly, assess any new mission requirements that should be considered. For example, is there an opportunity within your agency to hire personnel to fill open positions? If so, determine the exact positions you’re looking to fill and what those salary ranges may be.
Are there training or educational opportunities you can provide to your team to help enhance their professional skills? If so, now’s the time to note what those potential costs will be.
If your department or agency is looking to make an investment on a new mission, products, services, or technology equipment, take the time to conduct adequate research. Not only will this help ensure you’re investing in the right items that will actually benefit your team, but it will allow you to compare costs so that you can confidently stay within your annual budget controls.
Strategize Your Vision
When thinking about the fiscal year ahead, it’s important to identify the key strategic priorities or objectives your agency or department is looking to achieve each quarter. By mapping out your top priorities, you’ll be able to easily distinguish where the bulk of your funds should be distributed throughout the year.
In the event that you find your agency or department in danger of going over budget for a specific quarter, you can look at your annual spend plan and determine what internal offsets can be accomplished such as potentially re-aligning funds from other spend plan requirements. This will allow you to stay on track and maintain the same financial goals you started the year with.
Align Your Allies
Another important area when developing your annual spend plan is to make sure key stakeholders and department decision makers are involved and aligned with the organizational goals for the year. The annual spend plan should certainly be a larger conversation in which individuals are able to provide their feedback, insights, and overall expectations for the year.
By maintaining an open line of communication, you’ll help create a level of transparency, and encourage others to feel aligned with the larger strategic vision.
Invest in Financial Tools
When dealing with substantial amounts of money, consider utilizing financial tools that go beyond the use of excel. Making the investment in a more sophisticated platform such as General Fund Enterprise Business System can help provide your organization with the accurate, reliable, and timely financial information needed in order to make those critically informed financial decisions.
We know developing a detailed spend plan can feel like an overwhelming task. If you or your organization could use some help in preparing your new fiscal year budget, let MDC help. Our qualified team of professionals can help provide the necessary advisory support to assist in both short and long-term financial planning and programming. To learn more about our targeted solutions and how we can reach out to us today.
