Top 6 resources for a better budgeting season

The autumn season often feels more like a fresh start than January 1. Summer is turning the corner, school is back in session, and we’re seeing fewer out of office notifications.

For many finance teams, October comes with staring down hundreds of tabs in a spreadsheet that contains next year’s budgets, plans, and forecasts. One wrong formula or one incorrect number and you’re up all-night sifting through columns and rows trying to find the culprit.

Budgeting and planning don’t have to be long, drawn-out processes. In fact, with the right tools and processes in place, you can approach budgeting and planning with ease. And choosing an approach to budgeting and planning that grows with you will not only reduce the manual burden, but it will open new doors for organizational growth.

Time savings, increased accuracy, customized planning, automation, and next-level collaboration. Don’t those all sound good as you head into your 2025 budgeting and planning cycles?

To guide you through a better budgeting season, we’ve rounded up the top resources for next-gen finance teams, including:

The budgeting and planning showdown: FP&A software versus Excel

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it – it’s a saying we’re all familiar with. But when it comes to your budgeting and planning processes... Excel has its drawbacks. Version control, risk of errors, and broken formulas just to name a few. So, we’re putting FP&A software and Excel up against each other, looking at the differences and how you can use the two together to level up your budgeting and planning. Compare FP&A software versus Excel in this blog post.

6 sinais de que você precisa de um software de orçamento

If you’ve heard your team utter things like, Budgeting takes months! or We’re doubling up on work! or Too many departments are over budget!... you might be ready to explore business budgeting software. Learn more about the signs that you need budgeting software in our blog post.

How to collaborate on budgets with your team

If there’s one thing about budgeting and planning, it’s that it’s a collaborative effort. So, make miscommunication and working in silos a thing of the past. This quick video shows how Prophix One helps budget owners and contributors collaborate with ease. From task notification emails to visibility into status, dependencies, and deadlines – budgeting has never been easier. Check out this 30 second video for more insights.

The strategy and benefits of integrated business planning

Budgeting and planning is only as effective as the processes that support it. Integrated business planning—a holistic approach to planning—integrates financial and operational planning to ensure that no one is working in a silo. Ready to try this for your next budgeting and planning cycle? Learn about this approach in our guide to integrated business planning.

How to choose the best budgeting and planning software for your business

We’ve mentioned the benefits of budgeting and planning software, but where do you start when researching options? We’ve done the heavy lifting for you! This list combines the 17 best budgeting and planning software. From the pros, cons, and key features, we’ve rounded up the industry leading solutions and how you can choose the best fit for you. Honorable mention goes to Prophix One, a Financial Performance Platform. Check out the list of best budgeting and planning software.

Taking a strategy over spreadsheets approach

Budgeting and planning, audits, consolidation, and more – these processes are only as good as the team that supports them. From processes to strategy to technology, next-gen finance leaders are looking to you to learn how to deliver value and meet the expectations they’ve set for themselves and the organization. Get the on-demand recording of our latest webinar, Strategy over spreadsheets: Building the next generation of finance leaders, to hear actionable tips and strategies from industry leaders.

Are you ready to take your budgeting and planning to the next level? Prepare for the future of finance with our new Ultimate Guide to Next-Gen Finance.