In a rapidly changing business environment, the traditional, out-dated budgeting mentality is being challenged more and more. While the process of moving away from a traditional budgeting mentality is painful and slow, it is happening around the globe. The question is, are we ready to abandon the traditional budget completely?
Many will still argue that target setting works. “What gets measured gets done”. Yes, targets do work. That is actually the problem. Managers hitting their target is, however, no guarantee whatsoever that this was their best possible performance, given the circumstances.
A move beyond traditional budgeting does not necessarily mean losing the budget. Rather, it’s important to reduce some of the traditional planning approach and taking a modern, flexible view of how to best remain agile and perform better.
In this interview, Larysa Melnychuk, Managing Director at FP&A Trends Group and the Founder of the International FP&A Board, shares her thoughts on Beyond Budgeting Philosophy and reveals insights that were generated by the London FP&A Board during debate on the subject.
Are we ready to change the traditional budgeting culture?
It’s difficult to think of a business process that is more unpopular than budgeting. In nearly two decades of writing and talking on the subject, I have yet to come across anyone who is prepared to stand up and say it is a good thing.
Why, when everyone hates it, do we still have traditional budgeting? My tentative answer to this would be that most people were not aware of the alternatives.