An Annual Plan in Two Weeks or Less – adopting 21st century forecasting techniques


An annual planning process is not worth more than two weeks of effort, so why are we spending months on it?  Quotes David Parmenter

Companies in Asia, Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand are recognising that the existing annual planning process cannot continue. It has been with us since the Roman calendar was adopted by the West and is now seen by many as a hindrance to management rather than a help. An international survey found that nearly 90% of CFOs were dissatisfied with their annual planning process.

What CFOs and management accountants need to know is how to cut the time out of the existing annual planning process and at the same time prepare the way to managing the business in a more appropriate way.

Existing annual planning processes encourage budget holders to be dysfunctional, undermines the reporting regime as the monthly budgets have no relevance, and involves management in a three month period where management are taken away from making money.

This white paper will explain the two weeks process, the key steps, and show how this will lead to the natural progression of a quarterly rolling planning process (QRP).

What you will gain

  • access to electronic versions of all templates
  • understand and apply the building blocks to radically shorten your annual planning  process to 2 weeks!
  • understand how monthly targets (budgets) can be set later
  • how to sell this change based around the emotional drivers
  • how to start the change process a week after reading the paper!

Content:

  • the flawed logic of the traditional planning process ( setting budgets at account code level, setting monthly budgets too soon etc)
  • the foundation stones of a quick annual planning process
  • the two week process – step by step
  • a checklist to get this done
  • how to implement this within existing system constraints
  • how to set monthly targets which are more meaningful to BHs, Management and the Board
  • selling strategies to move to a two week annual planning cycle

Table of Contents

  1. Background
  2. The Foundation Stones of an Annual Planning Process
  3. Efficient Annual Planning Processes
  4. Selling the Change to the SMT, Finance Team and Board
  5. Establishing the monthly budgets
  6. Budget holders reports
  7. Presenter’s Biography
  8. Appendix 1 Useful Letters
  9. Appendix 2 Streamlining an Annual Planning Process Checklist
  10. Appendix 3 Sales Forecast Model
  11. Appendix 4 A Suggested Sales Pitch