2022 in Review

As the year approaches a wrap, it’s time to highlight your achievements and position yourself for 2023. Review and report on topics like your organization’s accomplishments, value creation, budgets, financial ratios, your competitor analysis, and the year ahead. Take time to create a full-year timeline with strategic projections and goals. Use the 2022 Annual Report Components infographic to serve as a guide for elements to include.

“A budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page; it is an embodiment of our values.” – Barack Obama 

Know your numbers

Over this quarter, a primary client focus has been on analyzing financial reports and data to aid the decision-making required for 2023 planning. Understanding the budgeting process is crucial in evaluating opportunities and risks.

Understanding your numbers allows for more strategic decision-making. Your numbers can provide:

• comparability,
• verifiability, and
• understandability

of the next best steps to take in your company.

As a leader, you are expected to have a thorough understanding of your numbers, prepare forward-looking financial reports, set financial targets, determine the usage of resources, and evaluate the costs and benefits of each option.

Business budgets help leaders run a successful business. A budget provides the opportunity to assess the actual budget against what was forecasted and planned.

Steps to take in preparing for 2023

1. Before developing your budget, it is normal practice to have a strategy session that will review relevant economic factors, sector issues/constraints/ opportunities, and management plans. Develop or review your 2023 budget (that should accommodate your short-term plans, normally one year in duration) and ensure each of your strategic objectives is related to your budget.
2. Your budget should address each of your strategic initiatives, including cash and payments, sales volumes and revenues, detailed inventories, labour, and production requirements.
3. Break your annual budget down into monthly budgets that will assist in planning and communication to the team.
4. If you are working on a unit or department budget, ensure you understand how the budgeting process interlinks with the various budgets in the business.

Can you answer the following?

• What is your mission, vision, short- and long-term strategic objectives?
• Have you recently conducted a position analysis of your organization?
• Who are your current competitors?
• Do you have a comprehensive forecasting and budgeting process? Can you explain when and how this process is performed?
• How often do you review your annual budget, identify variances between your forecasted and actual performance and update as strategic initiatives pivot and change?

Understanding your budget will enable you to:

• identify short term problems
• promote forward-thinking
• help in the coordination of units within a business
• communicate budget guidelines
• motivate your employees to promote better performance
• monitor performance relevant to the budget
• implement a system of control, levels of responsibility, and authorization

If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or c-suite executive and have any questions about this month’s topics, or feel this resonates with you and you need executive support to project your budget successfully into 2023, please contact us, or reach out directly to jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session.