Article
by Scott Driggs, Custom Information Services
July 8,
2009
Budgeting 101:
Dynamics GP Tools of the Trade
2009 is coming to a close and it is that time again:
yes budget season.
First off, if you are reading
this article, congratulations! You have almost
survived 2009 which has been a very difficult year
for many companies. Also, the fact that you are
reading this article tells me that you are forward
thinking and looking for ways to improve on your
current processes. It is assumed that you have built
a budget before. Rather, you are looking to move
beyond the mechanics and tedium of budgeting to
using budgets as a strategic tool that not only
improves the bottom line but can serve as a
framework to drive better business decision making.
At the same time, there are
practical considerations when creating a budget for
2010. Odds are that 2009 was a very different year
from any that you have previously experienced. This
can make it difficult to base a budget using 2009 or
even historical years particularly if there have
been some significant industry adjustments as a
result of the recession. In short, the goal of this
article is to provide some practical suggestions for
budgeting for next year as well as some thoughts and
ideas about the process of budgeting that should
lead to better stewardship of the allocated funds.
First off, make sure that you
take advantage of the technology that is available
to you. Most Accounting and ERP applications have
tools that allow you to budget in a number of
different ways. You are most likely using an
application that offers the ability to build budgets
from scratch. Most also have the ability to create a
new budget using the previous or a historical years
budget or actual numbers.
One such tool is the Budgeting
Wizard in the
General Ledger module for Dynamics GP. This
is a tool that really cuts down on some of the
manual processes associated with budgeting. For
example, you can email each department their budget
in Excel, allow them to make changes and then
re-import those numbers after looking them over.
What if I want to budget in a way that isn’t part of
the Chart of Accounts? Using the
Analytical Accounting module you can create
an unlimited number of user defined transaction
dimensions that can be used to budget in more
creative ways.
Beyond expenses, Microsoft
Dynamics GP also has more advanced tools to forecast
and plan for income as well. One such tool is
Microsoft Dynamics Forecaster that among
other things allows for Dynamic Revenue forecasting.
After a budget has been set up
there are still other tools to help stay on budget.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Workflows
are one example. One way that this tool is being
utilized is to manage the workflow of purchase order
approvals in Dynamics GP. A Workflow allows you to
set up business rules that route purchase orders to
the appropriate individuals for approval. Below a
specific dollar amount a purchase order may only
require one level of approval. Above that dollar
amount and a purchase order would automatically be
routed for management sign off before it can be
accepted into the system.
If your current solution does not
have tools like these then there are a number of
independent budgeting tools that may serve the
purpose. I would discourage the selection of a
completely independent budgeting tool that does not
allow budget numbers to be re-imported into your
system. A budget totally separate from your ERP
solution is not nearly as useful. Your software
company and your accounting solution reseller should
have a list of recommended third party budgeting
tools that integrate with their product.
Now if your current solution has
poor budgeting tools that is probably not a reason
to swap out your solution. However, if you have the
opportunity to make a system change be sure that you
select an ERP solution with powerful budgeting tools
that allow you to easily build and manage budgets.
Good luck in 2010 and happy budgeting!
If you care to comment on the
information above or have any questions please feel
free to contact Scott Driggs at 817-640-0016 x 124
or by emailing him at sdriggs@customis.com.
Custom Information Services is a
Dynamics reseller
in Dallas, Fort Worth Texas. |
