New Year's is a time for plans, revisiting projects, and putting goals and dreams into practice. If in personal life we prepare for the renewals that the period offers, when it comes to business, it cannot – nor should it – be different. For those who undertake or work in management roles, the moment calls for strategic planning to not only guarantee the company's financial viability, but also provide sustainable growth.
Nowadays, the advantage is that technology is an ally. There are specific innovation solutions for corporate financial strategic planning: for insights, data collection and analysis, and report creation that support the manager in determining the most appropriate actions and the best path for the business. Everything to avoid being part of a drastic statistic: every four minutes, a company closes its doors in Brazil, according to the Federal Government's Business Map.
For executive Alysson Guimarães, founder and CEO of LeverPro, specialized in innovation solutions and reporting for financial management of medium and large companies, methodology and discipline are essential. Therefore, the startup developed and freely provided an annual strategic financial planning checklist to the market.
The material, available digitally, can be accessed through simple and quick registration, by link. “We know that annual financial planning is complex. However, it is strategic and essential for the sustainability of businesses. So, we decided to offer this first step, which is this checklist,” says Guimarães.
The checklist includes over 100 items, divided into nine groups: strategic planning, data collection, scenario planning, departmental coordination, finance-independent tasks, creation of preliminary budget, executive review, finalization and approval, and implementation and monitoring. Next to each item, the material provides a text summarizing recommended actions and measures.
The material also highlights steps for data collection. At this point, leveraging historical organizational data, projecting according to current trends, engaging stakeholders, utilizing automation tools, and making adjustments in response to potential events that could impact the budget (such as hiring and investments) are among the guidelines developed by LeverPro. Tables listing items of income, expenses, assets, and liabilities, with explanations of what makes up these items, complement the "data collection" section of the material.
Finally, the startup highlights the importance of report generation, offering tips on how to proceed. For example, using financial planning software, preparing communications and other texts in advance, scheduling meetings ahead of time, planning multiple scenarios, and establishing standardization of reports. Similarly, in this section, applicable items of revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities are explained.
"Financial strategic planning sets the foundation for financial success throughout the year. Therefore, it deserves dedication, commitment, and care – an 'excess' of these ingredients is never too much," states the CEO of LeverPro. "For that," he continues, "it is important to understand the main deliverables, create a schedule. The decisions made during planning have repercussions throughout the year."
