The business environment can be a volatile place, so being able to update your forecasting on the fly - or at the very least with greater regularity than previously - can be a huge driver of growth. 'Agility' is a popular buzz word, and in few fields can it make as critical an impact as in budgeting and forecasting.
How can rolling forecasts make things better?
Effectively navigating market volatility depends on the ability to read what's happening in the world around you, and tweak your strategy and planning as necessary. Research from the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) found that 55 per cent of companies in 2015 had shifted to rolling forecasts, a useful approach to more accurately predict future earnings and expenses when fluctuations occur.
By looking beyond the current financial year, rolling forecasts can be much more effective than static budgets, offering greater lead time for senior management to make important resource allocation decisions and boost profitability growth.
Tips to improve rolling forecasts
Businesses looking to transition to the more agile solution of rolling forecasting have already taken the first step to better budgeting, however making that switch a reality may require adaptations of some existing processes. The widespread use of Microsoft Excel, for example - undoubtedly the most oft-used tool in forecasting - may be one area where change is needed.
Generating accurate rolling forecasts with Excel can be exceedingly difficult, tedious and fraught with errors. A modern enterprise needs a more collaborative system, and one which is able to better account for variables and rapid changes.
Host Analytics, a cloud-based solution built with agility in mind, delivers rolling forecasting functionality based on drivers, efficiently allocating resources where they will be most effective - without the need to manually enter large amounts of data into an Excel spreadsheet. Read this whitepaper for more information about best practices in rolling forecasts.
