Business Automation and Software Blog

Create a Clear Vision with Budget and Business Process Automation

Posted by Robert Baran on Mon, Oct 01, 2012 @ 08:55 AM

business-process-automationThere are many aspects that go into establishing a successful business. While areas such as marketing, product development and customer service are important and crucial parts of any business, companies wishing to continue to grow and succeed need to focus on creating and maintaining an effective budget.   From determining year over year expense and revenue, to identifying when to hire more staff or when to increase sales to make a profit – it all begins and ends with your company’s budget.

While it is not recommended, many companies maintain their budgets outside of their accounting systems. Spreadsheets and hand-written notes are often utilized instead, creating a time intensive and extra-labor inducing process. Budgets maintained in this manner are prone to errors, harder to maintain and can easily become obsolete when necessary changes and updates are made throughout the year.

Rather than performing all of the budget functions outside of the system, companies need to develop and maintain their budget within their accounting system. Many are equipped with advanced features and capabilities that provide companies with the tools they need to plan more effectively and achieve a better end-result. Accounting software will not only give companies more insight into their finances, but it will also make it easier to turn raw data into critical business intelligence. Automating your budget in this way will enable your company to achieve the many goals and objectives you have yet to reach.

There are many ways an automated budgeting process will improve your organization, some of which include:

Streamlined Integration
Many accounting solutions are equipped with the capability to create or upload commercial spreadsheets to simplify budget management. Here budget balances can be automatically updated and GL account numbers can be easily inserted saving you time and improving accuracy.

Powerful Capabilities
With a wide-range of formula options, you can construct virtually any simple or complex budget calculation.  You can create rolling or multiple-year budgets simultaneously and perform calculations on a period-by period basis.

Furthermore, you can analyze ‘what if’ scenarios with preview capabilities and recast budgets as many times as you need to in order to come up with the right plan.

Ease of Use
Many people stick with their old faithful spreadsheets because they’re concerned their accounting system’s budgeting process will be too complicated. However, many systems are very user friendly and easy to use. They often have similar functionality to spreadsheets and flexible formatting features, enabling you to create a detailed budget that is accurate, appealing and easy to manage. From making changes such as font, color and cell locking to adding or removing sheets, rows and columns – you can easily customize it according to your needs, all while maintaining data integrity.

Comprehensive Budget Management & Analysis
If your company maintains more than one budget at a time, automating it is a must! Your accounting system is much more likely to handle these complex needs accurately.

Additionally, integration of your budget within your accounting solution opens up a whole new world of business analytics and forecasting. Using real numbers and actual results from the General Ledger for closed and unclosed periods are just a keystroke away. It brings better visibility to all of your financial information, saving you time while providing the insight you need to improve your bottom line.

Automating your budget processes can directly improve your bottom line by giving you the information you need. If your company could benefit from an automated budget process, Positive Vision can help.

Give us a call today to schedule your Complimentary Budget Automation Consultation and start making the improvements necessary for creating a better business. 

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If you would like additional information regarding the benefits of automationg your business systems, click the button below to view our complimentary whitepaper on business process automation.

Complimentary Whitepaper ► ► Business Process Management and the Benefits of Automation

Topics: business process automation