Government budgeting is a lengthy, time-consuming process. But government agencies often need to work at a fast-paced schedule. Too often, the budgeting process is overly cumbersome, and frustrating for those who need to be working on other matters. Fortunately, there are ways to streamline budget forecasting in government agencies. Here are three helpful tips if you want your forecasting to be faster, and more effective.
Whether you’re looking for information on budget forecasting in government agencies or other tips on financial planning, Questica is here to help. Since 1998, Questica has worked to make handling finances easier and better for government agencies and other organizations. We manage over $63 billion in annual public sector and non-profit budgets, and we want to help you. Please visit our website for more information and consider signing up for one of our free webinars.
Three tips to help streamline budget forecasting in government agencies.
1. Set your forecasting assumptions
With any budgeting and forecasting process, there’s going to be outside factors that you have to anticipate which can impact your forecast. For example, what is your forecast horizon? Are you planning for a conservative or an objective forecast? Are there any political or funding issues surrounding the forecast? By understanding the assumptions, you’re making is important to making a proper and accurate forecast.
2. Gather your information
When gathering your forecasting information, you will likely have multiple sources of data. One way to streamline the forecasting process is to organize that data into multiple pages of data that’s easily accessible. The process is exponentially smoother when you have all your data organized, easy to read, and easy to understand.
3. Select the methods that you will use
Before you begin your forecast, make sure to agree on which forecasting method to use. Some methods are better than others. Examples of forecasting methods include extrapolation, which uses past trends to try and predict future ones, and regression, which analyzes the relationship between independent variables. No matter which method you choose, make sure its one that best fits the financial data that you want to gather.
Questica software provides what you need to make accurate forecasting
Questica budgeting software is a great way to help streamline budget forecasting in government agencies. Financial planning software already offers many efficiency advantages over models like Excel spreadsheets, because they’re specifically designed for budgeting needs. We provide the ability to organize your data in the cloud, so that it’s easy to manage and access. We integrate with financial systems, which allows you to use your General Ledger data. We also provide you the ability to create multiple budget forecasts and what-if scenarios, so your agency is better prepared to adjust the budget to meet agency objectives. Questica understands the demanding needs of government agencies and we’ve built our software to address and accommodate those needs.
We are a passionate team of technology experts and business specialists with decades of collective experience managing finances and budgeting software. You’ll be amazed at how much time and energy your agency will save with dedicated financial software like Questica Budget. To learn more about Questica and how our software can help you, read a or take a product tour.
