Budgets are looking a little different in the modern world, as they...

...move towards becoming a blueprint for growth. However, it means finance leaders are having to adapt and keep pace.

Though the mountain remains the same. There are changes among the constants.

While not as easy on the eye, it’s a similar set of circumstances when budgeting season rolls around.

The day-to-day responsibilities of the finance leader are continuing to evolve and while budgeting remains a core part of the job, it too is starting to look different.

They’re being used beyond cost control and are instead now a tool for growth, while the process of pulling the information together is being increasingly driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the rising availability of data.

How you performed last year isn’t necessarily a reflection on how you’re going to perform this year.

Trying to build in those unknowns is definitely a challenge and all you can do is take our knowledge of the business, talk to one of my colleagues to get their take and then try to build a sensible budget that you can then look back on and review after six months, because a lot can change in six months.

Therein lies one of the big adaptations that finance leaders are making: their budgets are being revisited and reshaped more often as the volatile economy risks derailing plans without much warning.

The economic environment has definitely not made your life easier and particularly, without wishing to be too political, some of the decisions that the government has put in place have raised a whole new level of challenges.