Use case: Budgeting and workflow

This use case describes how to streamline the budget and variance analysis processes while improving communication and visibility with budget managers.

The business problem

Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating actual and budget data is a tremendous undertaking for any organization. The most common issues that finance departments and budget managers are tasked with during the budgeting cycle are the following:

  • Collection of data from multiple end users and in multiple currencies.
  • Excel files that are too large to email.
  • Budget managers have too much flexibility within Excel workbooks.
  • Human error and not enough controls in the process.
  • Broken links among Excel files.
  • Collecting the budget data takes too long, leaving little time for the finance department to analyze the data.
  • Collecting variance comments on a monthly basis is difficult.
  • Budget managers can enter their budgets in their currency and have the currency automatically converted based on a standard exchange rate set by the finance department.

One of the critical challenges of the budgeting process is controlling the flow of data. Typically, the problems include the following:

  • Ensuring that the data collection process is a two-way communication between the managers and the finance department.
  • Ensuring that privacy is maintained throughout the process and that each department's budget stays confidential.
  • To access the data of another department, a manager needs the finance department to grant specific access.
  • Ensuring that the budget has been approved by management and the finance department.

Excel workbooks lack the ability to enforce these basic requirements. On a month-by-month basis, collecting variance data from managers, including notes and comments, can be a daunting task, one that can sometimes require inputting data manually into Excel sheets and sending them to managers through email.

The solution

Use a workflow project to collect and distribute budget data. A workflow offers a two-tier integrated approach to data collection and dissemination. By allowing you to easily create data-entry templates customized to the organization's specific needs, and providing budget managers with a structured data collection and workflow system, you can collect data quicker and more effectively.

Creating multiple workflow projects allows you to pursue various goals, such as budget data collection and the dissemination of variance reports.

The benefits

A centralized database collects input from multiple users, thus resolving a number of challenges, including the following:

  • Eliminating the need to send emails or store data in a single directory that all users can access.
  • Streamlining the budgeting process by setting up structured templates for a group of users.
  • Improving communication by allowing managers to enter comments and revisions of budgets in a structured environment.
  • Creating an approval process where data must be reviewed by higher-level managers or the finance department.
  • Restricting managers to viewing and entering data for their department only.
  • With due dates set for each activity in the workflow, the managers know their budget-entry deadlines. Managers are reminded of their outstanding tasks every time they log in.
  • The finance department can accept or decline a manager's budget (this decision process is enhanced by finance's ability to easily compare prior and current versions of the budget).

How it's done

Rather than sending Excel workbooks back and forth through email or storing workbooks on a central server, you communicate with the managers through a structured workflow environment that increases communication and also creates a secure environment for the data.

The communication between managers and the finance department becomes more visible through the approval process. The workflow process can also be set up to allow managers to analyze their data and comment on their variances on a month-by-month basis.

  1. In Template Studio, create the budget template.
  2. In Workflow Manager, create the workflow project.
  3. Add the appropriate task type(s) to the project.
  4. Add the template to the task(s).
  5. Add the users to the tasks.
  6. Save the project.
  7. When the workflow runs, the users receive task notifications.
  8. The users enter the budget data.

  9. The finance department reviews and approves or rejects the submissions.

    (Rejected submissions go back to the users for further work and re-submission.)