What is an Operating Budget Strategy?
An operating budget strategy is a plan of action for organizations to monitor and manage their revenue and expenses over a specific period of time. It gives finance teams an overview of the financial performance of their organization, and helps them make informed decisions to improve their budgeting practices. A well-thought-out operating budget strategy will help organizations realize their financial goals and increase overall efficiency.
What's included in this Operating Budget Strategy template?
- 3 focus areas
- 6 objectives
- 6 projects
- 6 KPIs
Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.
Who is the Operating Budget Strategy template for?
This operating budget strategy template is designed for finance teams to create and track their organization's budgeting goals. It helps teams define clear objectives, set measurable targets, and implement projects to achieve their goals. With this template, teams can design an effective budget strategy that is tailored to their organization’s needs and helps them maximize their financial success.
1. Define clear examples of your focus areas
A focus area is a broad category for a set of objectives and goals that an organization wants to achieve. These focus areas should be specific and relevant to the organization’s objectives. Examples of strategic focus areas that could fall under a Operating Budget Strategy could be: Implement cost-cutting measures, Update financial systems, and Streamline budgeting.
2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area
Objectives are the goals an organization wants to achieve within a particular focus area. These objectives should be measurable and achievable, and they should be broken down into smaller goals that can be tracked. Examples of objectives could include reducing operational inefficiency, increasing cost savings, or increasing budget accuracy.
3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective
KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are the metrics used to measure progress towards an objective. KPIs should be measurable, actionable, and relevant to the organization’s goals. Examples of KPIs could include decreasing cost-per-unit from $3 to $2, decreasing vendor costs by 10%, or increasing budget accuracy from 75% to 90%.
4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs
Projects, or actions, are the initiatives an organization needs to do in order to achieve an objective. Projects should be broken down into smaller, manageable tasks that can be tracked. Examples of projects could include analyzing current processes to identify inefficiencies, reviewing and renegotiating current vendor contracts, or deploying automation tools.
5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy
Cascade is a strategy execution platform that helps organizations track their performance, measure their goals, and make informed decisions to accelerate their results. With Cascade, teams can easily plan, implement, and track their operating budget strategy and achieve their organizational objectives faster and more effectively.