Budgeting

A balanced budget leads to balance in business

Organizations, large and small, should set forth a comprehensive operating plan at least annually. With this, senior management and owners can visualize the upcoming year(s), enact a plan of action, and assign financial performance to map to the plan’s objectives. Budgets function as means of holding your organization and leadership accountable for how you define success, financially.

Budgets should be developed with as much granularity as possible considering actual and anticipated performance, should a material change occur. Operational analysis can then point to what is happening in your organization to cause a change, and more importantly what leadership must do to alter a trend if negative or maximize it if positive. In our dynamic healthcare industry, developing a Revenue Model is essential in the budgeting process to understand individual provider or department productivity, payor mix drivers, and statistics. Going through this process allows you to analyze, on a timely basis, how your revenue cycle is performing compared to your expectations. On the outflow side, salaries and benefits will make up the majority of your expenses and again should be developed with as much detail as possible. Developed by person or FTE as well as by department, you can understand if there is a material difference in what you expect. Other expenses should continuously be evaluated and challenged to ensure you are running the most efficient operation possible. Sound budgeting allows leadership to understand data and variances, and more importantly points you in the direction of what needs to be changed.