How do you review and update your budget and forecast regularly and efficiently in excel?

1 Use a template

One of the best ways to save time and avoid errors is to use a template for your budget and forecast. A template is a pre-formatted spreadsheet that contains the basic structure, formulas, and charts that you need for your analysis. You can find many free or paid templates online, or create your own based on your specific needs and preferences. A template will help you organize your data, automate your calculations, and visualize your results.

2 Set up a data source

Another important step is to set up a data source for your budget and forecast. A data source is a separate spreadsheet or file that contains the raw data that you use for your analysis, such as your income, expenses, sales, costs, etc. By linking your template to your data source, you can easily update your budget and forecast whenever your data changes, without having to copy and paste or re-enter the information manually. You can use Excel's data tools, such as Power Query, to connect to various data sources, such as CSV files, databases, web pages, or other Excel files.

3 Apply scenarios and assumptions

A budget and forecast are based on certain scenarios and assumptions about the future, such as growth rates, inflation rates, market conditions, etc. However, these scenarios and assumptions may change over time, or you may want to test different possibilities and outcomes. To do this, you can use Excel's scenario manager and data table features. These features allow you to create and compare multiple scenarios and assumptions, and see how they affect your budget and forecast. You can also use Excel's goal seek and solver features to find the optimal values for your variables, such as your revenue, profit, or budget.

4 Create a budget vs actual report

A budget vs actual report is a comparison of your budgeted and actual results, such as your income, expenses, cash flow, etc. It shows you how well you are meeting your targets, and where you may need to make adjustments or corrections. To create a budget vs actual report in Excel, you can use various methods, such as formulas, pivot tables, conditional formatting, or sparklines. You can also use Excel's variance analysis functions, such as VAR, VARP, STDEV, STDEVP, etc., to measure the degree of difference between your budget and actual results.

5 Generate a forecast report

A forecast report is a projection of your future results, based on your historical data and trends. It helps you anticipate your future performance, and plan accordingly. To generate a forecast report in Excel, you can use various methods, such as formulas, trendlines, charts, or the forecast sheet feature. You can also use Excel's statistical functions, such as FORECAST, FORECAST.LINEAR, TREND, GROWTH, etc., to estimate your future values based on your existing data.

6 Review and update regularly

Finally, the most important tip is to review and update your budget and forecast regularly and efficiently. This means that you should check your data source for any changes or errors, refresh your template with the latest data, apply any new scenarios or assumptions, create and analyze your budget vs actual and forecast reports, and make any necessary adjustments or corrections. You should also document your assumptions, methods, and results, and communicate them clearly to your stakeholders. By doing this, you will ensure that your budget and forecast are accurate, reliable, and useful for your decision making.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?