Higher Education Budgeting – Target Adjustments and Assumptions for Dynamics 365 Business Central
What are Target Adjustments and Assumptions in a Higher Education Budget Model?
Target adjustments for both revenues and expenses serve as templates for making assumptions, frequently utilized by budget managers to establish proposed financial objectives for departmental users contributing to the bottom-up budget. This particular form’s essential function involves inputting suggested annual increments or decrements, which are derived from the prior year’s actual results or the previous year’s budget. These figures are entered as the recommended percentage changes for each revenue and expense General Ledger account. Below, you will find an illustration of this type of input form.
Purpose of Target Adjustment Templates
Universities and colleges employ target adjustment templates to swiftly and efficiently construct an initial proposed budget based on preferred or anticipated targets. When integrated into sound business practices within a Budgeting and Planning department, an institution can enhance its planning process and reduce the likelihood of departmental end users in the bottom-up budget process significantly deviating from the institution’s set targets.
Benefits to Users
The incorporation of Target Adjustment and Assumption templates in a higher education budget model not only streamlines the budgeting process but also offers significant advantages to business users. By providing a structured framework for setting financial targets and assumptions, this model empowers users to make more informed decisions. Budget managers and departmental users can collaborate more effectively, ensuring that proposed budgets align with the institution’s goals and priorities. Additionally, the model enhances efficiency by reducing the chances of missing financial targets by a wide margin, ultimately leading to better financial planning and resource allocation. As a result, business users can optimize their decision-making processes, contributing to improved overall performance and resource utilization within the institution.
Target Adjustment Template Example
Here is an example of a Target Adjustment form for revenues and expenses.
Higher Education Budgeting – Target Adjustments and Assumptions Example from Solver
You can find hundreds of additional examples here.
Who Uses This Type of Form?
The typical users of this type of form are: Budget Officers and Department Managers.
Other Forms Often Used in Conjunction with Target Adjustment Templates
Progressive Budgeting and Planning Departments sometimes use several different Target Adjustment Templates, along with payroll, capex, operating expense and revenue templates, in addition to management and control tools.
Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From?
The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Acumatica, Netsuite and others.
In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional corporate performance management (CPM/EPM) solutions.
What Tools are Typically used for Reporting, Planning and Dashboards?
Examples of business software used with the data and ERPs mentioned above are:
- Native ERP report writers and query tools
- Spreadsheets (for example Microsoft Excel)
- Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools (for example Solver)
- Dashboards (for example Microsoft Power BI and Tableau)
Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Cloud Solutions and More Examples
- View 100’s of reporting, consolidations, planning, budgeting, forecasting and dashboard examples here
- Higher Education White Paper and other industry-specific information here
- See how reports are designed in a modern report writer using a cloud-connected Excel add-in writer
- Discover how the Solver CPM solution delivers financial and operational reporting
- Discover how the Solver CPM solution delivers planning, budgeting and forecasting
- Watch demo videos of reporting, planning and dashboards
Only Solver delivers a one-day rapid deployment, including free and instant access to $100K of value available on Day 1 in the Solver Marketplace. Solver is committed to helping you with all your advanced planning and reporting needs, so you can Accelerate Better Decisions – starting now. Take a free tour of Solver for any of these ERPs:
