Welcome to the first edition of this newsletter which focuses on practical advice on finance and strategy for start-ups and small medium enterprises.

It is planning season so in this edition, we are going to explore the leading practices in the Budgeting process and how this can be structured to create real value in your organization.

Phase A: Define top-down budget guidelines

Organize department-level data in the main financial model TIP: (organize and clean historical data, but keep the correct level of details you are able then to report)

Develop and publish a budget timeline TIP: (fix a deadline that allows for some delay and reiteration. I.e 1st Jan is not a good one)

Develop and publish business plan targets TIP (best practise shows a combination of TOP down target set by the CEO and bottom-up inputs from the organization to meet the targets)

Phase B: Prepare bottom-up Business As Usual (BAU) Unit budget Meet with sales, marketing, product, and other departments across the organization to prepare the Business-as-usual budget TIP (set the guideline so each department can contribute and finance could consolidate information easily) Prepare BAU resource and headcount budget ( Prepare BAU indirect cost (G&A - overheads) budget

Phase C: Plan strategic initiative portfolio Define the strategic initiatives for the next year, with clear targets and accountability in the organization. The incentive plan should be aligned with these.

Develop non-financial perspective KPIs (focus on leading indicators and not lagging behind. i.e n. of leads generated)

Phase D: Overlay impact of the strategic initiative portfolio on BAU Overlay mutual impact of strategic initiative portfolio and BAU business unit budget Assess, iterate and validate budget by business unit, division and group using ‘[strategic reserve’](https://cooperative-fortnight-ffc.notion.site/8d3835a570334fa0b3f3d96f5876e820) at the appropriate level