If you're a business, you know that at the end of the year, you have a significant number of things you need to get done. You start thinking about organizing documents for taxes, wrapping up your books, enrolling employees in any benefits programs they might qualify for, selling specific investments, and establishing a budget for next year.
And when that list gets long or one item seems overwhelming, human nature kicks in and it's not often pretty. Nowhere have I see business owners procrastinate more or make more excuses than when I bring up the topic of budgets. So determined are they to "get out of" putting together a budget that they've offered up everything short of a permission slip from their mom to be relieved of the obligation.
Here are some common excuses for not organizing a budget, and why you should make one anyway.
Excuse 1: Budgets aren't flexible enough, so that it's impossible to stay with initial limits for the entire year. In fact, your budget doesn't have to be cut and dried. You didn't swear on your grandmother's best brownies that you'd stick with it no matter what. It's yours and if needed, you can be flexible with it. However, you should not just make a budget and then ignore it. It's estimated that up to 80% of companies who create budgets don't change even one detail during the fiscal year. In fact, that's not realistic. Not only is it possible for you to change your budget as circumstances require, but it's necessary. If appropriate, perhaps budgeting every quarter instead of yearly would be a better option for you.
Excuse 2: I won't be able to react as flexibly to an unforeseen crisis if I have a budget in place. The reality is that companies that create budgets tend to be more flexible and more proactive than companies without budgets. When you're actively tracking your progress toward a specific goal you can tell much earlier on if you've hit a snag. You can react while the situation is smaller and more manageable, and sometimes you can even see a problem before it occurs.
Excuse 3: Budgeting is too complex and takes too much time. While this might actually be true for some companies, it doesn't have to be so. It's true that many companies sweat extensively over their budgets; some even devote as much as 20% of their management's time to creating those budgets. It's true that a certain amount of detail is going to be necessary if the budget will be effective. However, the budget itself can often be quite simple. In addition, the time you invest in this type of planning will never be wasted, because you'll save yourself time down the road when you need to react in the moment for split-second decisions that must be made.
Excuse 4: My industry changes too quickly for me to adhere to a budget. In fact, every company experiences this, because conditions change moment to moment in every industry, not just yours. Therefore, that's not a legitimate reason to avoid this necessary plan for the future. Your budget does not ask you to predict things you can't know, such as whether fuel prices will go up, whether staff turnover will be high, whether laws will be passed that will impact your business, and so on. Rather, a budget forces you to look at the overall picture and make a commitment to goals you want to accomplish, along with the actions you plan to take to do just that. These things are under your control, regardless of changes in your industry. You need to be able to look at your business and know what you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. If you can't do that, you need to figure out why.
Excuse 5: Budgets are meaningless. Everyone just fudges the numbers to paint a pretty picture of how things ought to look. Creating a budget that is based on too-lofty goals, hoping it will provide the inspiration to achieve them, is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for failure and frustration. One internet post compared budgets to pornography: "a fantasy about how the author would like the world to look, having no relation to the realities of the world, designed to titillate, stimulate and motivate the reader, but ultimately resulting in a sense of alienation and despair." Long-term, that's of no use. When it comes to budgets, you can and should keep it real.
Excuse 6: I have a budget, it's just in my head not on paper. Keeping mental note of your company's projects, numbers and expenses is overambitious. You may be able to do it for a while, but eventually your business reaches a size that makes it impossible for you to keep in touch with all of the details. If you have managers and employees working for you, it also prevents them from taking on some of the ownership and accountability for results with you. Even if you don't feel like you're big enough for a budget right now you will be one day. It's never too early to start a good habit.
Remember, budgeting is simply planning. It forces you to step out of the day-to-day details and look strategically at your business, to take stock of where you are and to set a goal for where you want to be. And let's face it, without a formal tool in place that nudges you to action, that kind of planning is likely to take a back seat to all the other daily crises that demand your attention.
So what is it? Your dog ate it? You need to shampoo your hair and won't have time? You've got relatives in from Iowa? Or are you ready to drop the excuses and start crunching numbers?
And when that list gets long or one item seems overwhelming, human nature kicks in and it's not often pretty. Nowhere have I see business owners procrastinate more or make more excuses than when I bring up the topic of budgets. So determined are they to "get out of" putting together a budget that they've offered up everything short of a permission slip from their mom to be relieved of the obligation.
Here are some common excuses for not organizing a budget, and why you should make one anyway.
Excuse 1: Budgets aren't flexible enough, so that it's impossible to stay with initial limits for the entire year. In fact, your budget doesn't have to be cut and dried. You didn't swear on your grandmother's best brownies that you'd stick with it no matter what. It's yours and if needed, you can be flexible with it. However, you should not just make a budget and then ignore it. It's estimated that up to 80% of companies who create budgets don't change even one detail during the fiscal year. In fact, that's not realistic. Not only is it possible for you to change your budget as circumstances require, but it's necessary. If appropriate, perhaps budgeting every quarter instead of yearly would be a better option for you.
Excuse 2: I won't be able to react as flexibly to an unforeseen crisis if I have a budget in place. The reality is that companies that create budgets tend to be more flexible and more proactive than companies without budgets. When you're actively tracking your progress toward a specific goal you can tell much earlier on if you've hit a snag. You can react while the situation is smaller and more manageable, and sometimes you can even see a problem before it occurs.
Excuse 3: Budgeting is too complex and takes too much time. While this might actually be true for some companies, it doesn't have to be so. It's true that many companies sweat extensively over their budgets; some even devote as much as 20% of their management's time to creating those budgets. It's true that a certain amount of detail is going to be necessary if the budget will be effective. However, the budget itself can often be quite simple. In addition, the time you invest in this type of planning will never be wasted, because you'll save yourself time down the road when you need to react in the moment for split-second decisions that must be made.
Excuse 4: My industry changes too quickly for me to adhere to a budget. In fact, every company experiences this, because conditions change moment to moment in every industry, not just yours. Therefore, that's not a legitimate reason to avoid this necessary plan for the future. Your budget does not ask you to predict things you can't know, such as whether fuel prices will go up, whether staff turnover will be high, whether laws will be passed that will impact your business, and so on. Rather, a budget forces you to look at the overall picture and make a commitment to goals you want to accomplish, along with the actions you plan to take to do just that. These things are under your control, regardless of changes in your industry. You need to be able to look at your business and know what you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. If you can't do that, you need to figure out why.
Excuse 5: Budgets are meaningless. Everyone just fudges the numbers to paint a pretty picture of how things ought to look. Creating a budget that is based on too-lofty goals, hoping it will provide the inspiration to achieve them, is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for failure and frustration. One internet post compared budgets to pornography: "a fantasy about how the author would like the world to look, having no relation to the realities of the world, designed to titillate, stimulate and motivate the reader, but ultimately resulting in a sense of alienation and despair." Long-term, that's of no use. When it comes to budgets, you can and should keep it real.
Excuse 6: I have a budget, it's just in my head not on paper. Keeping mental note of your company's projects, numbers and expenses is overambitious. You may be able to do it for a while, but eventually your business reaches a size that makes it impossible for you to keep in touch with all of the details. If you have managers and employees working for you, it also prevents them from taking on some of the ownership and accountability for results with you. Even if you don't feel like you're big enough for a budget right now you will be one day. It's never too early to start a good habit.
Remember, budgeting is simply planning. It forces you to step out of the day-to-day details and look strategically at your business, to take stock of where you are and to set a goal for where you want to be. And let's face it, without a formal tool in place that nudges you to action, that kind of planning is likely to take a back seat to all the other daily crises that demand your attention.
So what is it? Your dog ate it? You need to shampoo your hair and won't have time? You've got relatives in from Iowa? Or are you ready to drop the excuses and start crunching numbers?
About the Author:
About the Author: Margot Brandlin is a Minneapolis Bookkeeper who writes for OWL Bookkeeping and CFO Services. Owl has a Bookkeeper in Minneapolis ready to take on your business finances.
