Forecasting & budgeting

Never has the importance of robust, tighter forecasting and reliable, real-time budgeting been as crucial as it is now for Australian businesses. This is for a range of reasons – bankers’ and lenders’ expectations have become more stringent with specific covenants for you to meet, and crises like COVID-19 have shown how rigid, annualised processes can come undone with little notice.

Our experiences have also shown us that businesses that plan and forecast often achieve better financial performance than those who don’t.

A sound plan should not only cover where you currently are sitting with your financials – and the opportunities to come – but also downside scenarios in your future to manage inevitable peaks and troughs for your business, industry and the market more generally.

You could be experiencing – sometimes sudden – significant liquidity in the business or low cash reserves. If your budget and forecasting is agile and has considered a range of variables, your business will be in the best position to pursue opportunities quickly or mitigate future risk to the business.

A 3-way forecasting model

Our team at Grant Thornton works closely with our clients to meaningfully and realistically plan for their future with our 3-way forecasting process. We build a complete picture for you by combining your profit and loss, cash flow and balance sheet, with assumptions that are realistic. That way, you and your stakeholders have a strong level of comfort that your business has considered its possible operating scenarios and the key risks associated with these to ensure strong future performance.

We work with you to develop an annual budget with a rolling forecast to allow you to plan in the grey. As each month and quarter ends, we add another to reflect current market conditions and review how your business is tracking. When new opportunities, issues, or even global events are on the (near) horizon, we adjust your forecast accordingly and develop a plan with you to manage this.

How we help

Our services include:

• assistance with building a financial model for your business
• reporting against your model including analysis of key variances, including dashboard designs
• KPI measurement and planning
• maintenance and updating rolling models on a monthly basis