This is part 11 of 12 in a blog series on understanding the risks of your current planning, budgeting and forecasting process. For the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a new article every Wednesday that will look at the challenges of the budgeting process and how to solve them. Catch up on last week’s post, Create Specific Budgets Without Taking Them Too Personally.

Most business professionals automatically choose Microsoft Excel® as the ‘go to’ software to use when preparing financial budgets. There is no doubt that Excel offers an easy way to enter data, create formulas, and analyze different financial possibilities.  However, complicated business operations may require a more comprehensive business budgeting solution , a solution like True Sky.

Have you outgrown spreadsheets alone?

Spreadsheets alone cannot always handle large volumes of data or provide insight into the often complicated planning, budgeting and forecasting process. The process of merging and consolidating spreadsheets is tedious and time consuming. Not to mention, the inevitable errors you’re bound to find! When your business has grown and operations have expanded, you may need a more powerful business budgeting software to support your budgeting process.

It’s time for a centralized budgeting solution

Provide your management team with a centralized budgeting solution such as True Sky.  Download 21 Ways Your Budgeting Process Puts Your Business at Risk to see just how an efficient, centralized budgeting solution can improve the budgeting process.  For starters, True Sky offers a simplified, easy-to-learn and user-friendly interface, that is Excel. By eliminating confusion through the use of customized templates, your teams can put more time and thought into the financial and budgetary data that they provide.  A centralized data source also reduces the proliferation of spreadsheets.  You don’t need to worry if your people are reviewing the most current version of a spreadsheet or whether they are altering data from last year’s budget.

Reduce administrative time

True Sky automatically merges your spreadsheets and stores them in a centralized location, saving you a time.  Automated workflows also reduce administration time and speed up the review and approval process.  The appropriate people have the opportunity to provide input and justifications for their data, without the time-consuming follow-up emails or meetings.

Learn more about a budgeting solution

Download 21 Ways Your Budgeting Process Puts Your Business at Risk eBook to learn how to streamline the often complicated budgeting process and gain the insight you need to achieve your strategic goals.   Contact us for more information about spreadsheet limitations and the benefits of using a centralized budgeting solution.