The Fractional CFO | Why Your Forecasts Keep Failing
Published on by Jill Prendergast, Amy Smith, in Fractional Accounting, Video
Can’t watch the video? Get the transcript.
Your Budget Is Probably Wrong. And That’s Okay.
Business conditions change. Costs rise. New opportunities emerge. Priorities shift. And your forecasts go straight out the window. So if your carefully constructed forecast (and your annual budget) stop reflecting reality a few weeks or months into the year, that doesn’t mean the budgeting process failed.
It means it may be time to look at forecasting and budgeting differently.
In this conversation, Fractional CFOs Jill Prendergast and Amy Smith explore how businesses can build more useful budgets and forecasts without turning the process into an exhausting, weeks-long exercise.
The key? Focus on what really drives your business.
For a construction company, that might mean backlog, pipeline, payroll and workforce utilization. For a manufacturer, material costs may demand more attention. Other businesses may need to closely watch sales, labor costs, industry trends or changing market conditions.
Rather than getting lost in minor line items, focus on the numbers that have the greatest impact on performance and decision-making. Then, as conditions change, forecasts and reforecasts can help provide a more current view of where your business is headed.
That visibility can inform critical decisions about when to hire, where to invest, when to increase marketing, whether to pursue a new opportunity, when to pull back, and much more.
Jill and Amy also discuss why communication matters. Owners and financial leaders don’t always have every piece of information they need, making input from sales, operations, and other departments essential to creating forecasts that reflect what’s really happening across the business.
The goal isn’t to predict the future perfectly. It’s to create a practical financial roadmap that helps you understand where you’re headed, recognize when circumstances have changed and make better-informed decisions along the way.
Watch the video to see how a simpler, more flexible approach to budgeting and forecasting can give your business the insight it needs to keep moving forward.
You may also be interested in the full Fractional CFO video series, or in the free Fractional CFO Guide to Success. Other resources include an FAQ on how the fractional model works and the types of organizations that can benefit from it. If you have questions or would like to talk about whether a Fractional CFO or accounting and advisory team could benefit your organization, contact us for a free consultation. Our top fractional pros? Here to help.
