In the business world, there are very few universal truths. One that can’t be denied is that a company can’t avoid business budget planning and expect to succeed. If you don’t budget, you are probably setting yourself up for failure; it really is as simple as that. And while this truth is undeniable, it still rankles.

No one likes budgeting – that’s another universal fact. Want to fall in love with your business budget planning again? Here are 3 ways to get your team on board with your budgeting process:

Set expectations. People don’t like budgets for a number of reasons. Firstly, the time your team members have to spend on budgets is usually time they have to take away from regular tasks. Secondly, all too often those budgets are sent via email without proper direction. Finally, accountability inevitably leads to stress. By setting expectations regarding timelines, providing detailed instructions (and user-friendly budget templates), and remaining accountable yourself, this help to make the process run far more smoothly.

Keep it simple. Many companies have their budget templates created by their accountants. That’s great, if only accountants are contributing. However, many of those budgets are being used by non-accountants and thus the terminology and template itself should be created with those users in mind. Simplifying the templates. For example, keeping unnecessary data out of the template, or creating templates specific to each budget (rather than one gigantic budget that covers everything), will result in more accurate numbers as a direct result of a better level of understanding on behalf of those inputting data.

Invest in an application to streamline the process. When it comes to business budget planning, most organizations rely on Excel. Excel, on its own, is a great program that makes budgeting a far more uniform process. You can easily improve Excel with a corporate performance management system that automates and merges data, improves analysis and increases security. Once you’ve introduced such a system, help ensure end users are comfortable with the changes with appropriate training and an appropriate transition period.

Your employees are your backbone. Your business budget planning depends greatly on their ability to meet and exceed your expectations. Making the budgeting process easier to handle, and ultimately less stressful overall, gives those team members contributing to it a chance to better create budgets that are accurate and reflective of both current numbers and upcoming trends.

Want your employees to fall in love with budgeting? Ok, that may be a bit of a stretch…want your employees to fall in like with your budgeting? At True Sky, we can help you improve your business budget planning process. Find out more by visiting www.truesky.com.