When you are actually implementing the budgeting solution, you also want to make sure the workflow setup is a good fit for your team. For example, you want to give people enough time to complete their parts of the budget, but also enough time to analyze it. A strong budget requires more thought than just administrative data entry.

Ideally, your solution will present ways to reduce the administrative time and costs so that your team can focus on analysis.

When you are looking at implementation timeframe, consider:

1. A plan or methodology that is communicated to all involved in the process. The individual in charge of the project needs to be able to clearly explain the reasons for the implementation, along with designated roles and scheduled timelines. Without a plan, there is little to stop a project from going awry.
2. Monitoring. Even when a plan has been established, there is no guarantee of success if there is no monitoring of progress. If things are not going according to schedule, but there is no one keeping track of the tasks, there is no way to identify what is or is not being done. Careful monitoring of a project’s progress helps to keep everything on track.
3. Make allowance for hiccups. If everything goes according to plan, great. What if it does not? If not enough time or resources are allocated to a given project or element of that project, one minor bump in the road can throw an entire implementation off course. In particular, accommodations need to be made for users’ ‘real’ jobs in addition to their assigned project tasks and appropriate priorities communicated.
4. Build in UAT. Any technological project needs to factor in ‘a day in the life.’ This is the best way to test scenarios within which the software will be utilized and identify issues. As above, make sure to monitor UAT and make it a priority.

How will these tips help you create a concrete budgeting plan for your team?