Why savvy Microsoft Dynamics 365 users need smart budgeting

Financial leaders find themselves under ever-growing pressure to be able to see the complete picture of their businesses when making authoritative strategic recommendations and decisions. Boardrooms require intimate knowledge of the status of organizations, and more importantly, where they are headed. Enabling accurate, dynamic views of the business's trajectory requires vigilant focus and dedication to financial controls like smart budgeting.

"Smart budgeting" is the emerging trend of using technology to automate and manage the financial health of the organization; thus, leveraging an intelligent budget model that re-programs itself when things change.

The growth and development of Microsoft Dynamics 365 marries itself perfectly with the concepts and processes associated with smart budgeting, like the efficient and accurate capture of financial and operational data that static or traditional budgeting cannot address.

Do you need smart budgeting?

Budgeting isn't an optional exercise in business, it's a necessary process used to shape a company's vision into an operational plan. That baseline helps gauge and measure how actual results compare with expectations. But budgeting alone doesn't encompass the vision and agility required in today's boardroom.  

Traditional budgeting is a static annual process where input is gathered, entered, and developed into a plan. The moment a traditional budget is finalized, conditions change. Inventory prices fluctuate, new business opportunities arise, and operational headcount changes. With that, it's critical to adapt your budget to the new reality - in real time.

Smart budgeting embraces change. It expects it. It anticipates it. And it should work as a natural extension of core systems like Dynamics 365. A budget that is signed and put in a drawer ages to the point of uselessness, while a smart budget adapts and assists management by providing the ...