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Presentation of quarterly forecasting template for feedback
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Submitted by:
John Ruggini
Department:
Finance Department
A. Issue
Prior to 2020, the Finance Department produced a quarterly financial report projecting actuals and budget variances based on year-to-date financial information. We would like to restart this process in 2025 and receive feedback on the report content.
B. Background/Options
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial system implementation, the Finance Department stopped preparing quarterly budget to actual reports. They were not restarted due to the cumbersome process required. This is a current weakness in our financial reporting as these reports serve as an early-warning system for staff and elected officials of potential year-end budget issues. We spent 2024 reconfiguring our Municast forecasting system to simplify this reporting and plan on restarting the reporting in 2025. Our goal is to produce the report 45 days after the close of the quarter. So the first quarter report would be presented to the Financial Affairs Committee at their May 6th meeting for the quarter that closes March 31.
Prior to producing the first report staff would like to receive feedback on the graphs and charts we intend to use. We plan to report on approximately 12 revenue categories and 8 expenditure categories with the ability to drill down into further detail. The categories are shown below with some of the drill-down capability displayed.
There are over 3,000 accounts contained within these 20 categories. Each account has been assigned one of three forecasting methodologies:
1. Assume budget
2. Assume a final actual based on the average spending/earning pattern of the prior 2 years.
a. Example: If in the prior 2 years, we earned 80% of the final amount by Oct. 1 and this year, we've earned $100,000 by Oct. 1 then we would assume we would earn $125,000. (i.e. $100,000/.8)
3. Pro-rated Budget.
a. Assume actuals to dat...
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