There is no getting around it – Microsoft Excel can be a great tool for budgeting and forecasting, but it has its limitations. Often, that can look like less security, lengthy formatting time, inaccurate data, difficulty merging spreadsheets, etc.​ Here are some signs you may have outgrown Excel:​ You rely on…

Good communication is paramount to collaborating on workbooks. If you want something done a certain way, you need to give your users careful instructions.​ Essentially, think about the spreadsheet from the perspective of your least technical user, and create it for them.​ Some best practices:​  Put instructions on the page. Even…

When you are designing a template or entry form, you want it to be easy to use. And that starts with the initial impression. In general: Do not show 1,000 columns or 1,000 rows in a spreadsheet. Hide fields and use filters to simplify the workbook. In the right templates,…

Tell us if this sounds familiar: you set a goal of finalizing your budget within eight weeks. But seven of those eight weeks are spent collecting data and inputting numbers into a spreadsheet, tracking changes from other staff, merging documents, catching small errors, and generally giving you one large, administrative headache.​ By…

All too often, it is easy to fall into the trap of using a budget to maintain the status quo. The sales department spends X dollars on employee expenses, so we will put that in. The telephone system costs X amount, so that goes in. After we tally up the…

What makes a meaningful budget? Aligned with short-term and long-term goals. Takes into account past trends. Accounts for more than what you plan to spend. Driven by strategy. Provides clear vision to your team. An effective budget is not just numbers on a sheet. You want your budget to balance…

When you are actually implementing the budgeting solution, you also want to make sure the workflow setup is a good fit for your team. For example, you want to give people enough time to complete their parts of the budget, but also enough time to analyze it. A strong budget…

The best budget is not going to succeed unless your employees do their part. You need to have staff onboard, not just for the budget itself, but also for the new budgeting solution. This goes back to knowing your why –when you have a strong reason for making a strategic…

Before implementing a budgeting solution, you need to make sure your users know why they are budgeting. What is the goal? Make sure they know they are not budgeting just for the sake of it. This ties into having a strong strategic vision for the business. Say that you want…

First and foremost, you must understand your requirements and resources –which includes your current IT infrastructure, available budget, and human resources. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your existing processes. Consider: What workflow problems do you encounter? What pain points do you wish could be addressed? What elements in your…