Collaborative Budgeting Checklist

Prepare

Define your objectives. Why will collaborative budgeting benefit your business? How will it tie into your
mission and strategic plan?

Get leadership buy-in. Ensure company executives are committed to this transition and will provide
support for planning and implementation.

Create your timeline. It’s best to start at least 3 months before you begin budgeting for a new fiscal year,
so that you have time to learn and train others on a new method.

Plan

Select a budgeting tool. Factors to consider: security, cost, implementation time, training, and customer
support.

Identify participants. Determine who will be involved in collaborative budgeting, and what role they will
take in the process.

Gather data. Determine what data will need to be added to the new system to optimize budgeting
and reporting.

Create a playbook. Establish company guidelines, roles, responsibilities, and timelines before launching a
new process. Questions to consider:

Which team members will have access?

What level of access does each individual need?

What new workflows and templates need to be created?

What existing workflows and templates need to be adjusted?

What deadlines need to be put in place to ensure optimal participation?

Schedule implementation and training. Work with your budgeting software’s support team to schedule
a time to implement your new software and train key team members on use and best practices.

Launch

Kick Off. Depending on the size of your business or organization, you may decide to launch the entire
program at once, or deploy a small beta group to test your processes.

Check In. During the initial launch stage, schedule regular team stand-ups and create open channels of
communication to ensure everyone is participating, and identify any issues or discrepancies early on.

Celebrate! Identify and share the small wins with both leadership and your team. Recognize the
individuals who champion using new processes and tools.

Review

Analyze. Carefully review budget data to check for discrepancies, trends, and areas that may need
improvement.

Collect Feedback. Ask participants what went well and what needs improvement so you can continue to
hone the budgeting and reporting process.

Report. Share both budget reports and the results of the new process with leadership.
KPIs to consider:

Time spent on the budgeting process

Team member participation

Meeting submission deadlines and approvals

Budget-to-actuals

Refine. Once you’ve completed your budgeting process, consider what areas can be improved: adjusting
workflows to save time; boosting participation; restructuring reporting; etc.