Dynamic Live Budgeting – Update
I have gotten a few requests on if there is software out there that will handle a dynamic live budget for farmers.
What I have found so far that works the best is to use an Excel spreadsheet. I have reviewed a couple of budgeting programs that are for me simply to complicated to work very well. Quickbooks has a fairly good budgeting feature (along with most other accounting packages). You can use these accounting programs to work up your budget, export it into an Excel spreadsheet and then set up your formulas for projected changes to the balance sheet and statement of cash flows.
The key area that is normally not addressed in an accounting software budget is the changes to the balance sheet and cash flow statement. These changes are almost as important or more important than the profit and loss statement. Only by incorporating all three statements will you get a dynamic live budget.
I have prepared these budgets for some of my clients in the past. I will work on creating a sample budget for a corn and bean operation that will provide quarterly information going out for a two year period. This would be an example of how the dynamic live budget will work.
Since I am busy with getting those pesky last minute extensions done and will be out of the office all next week on business, I may not get it finished until the last week in October, but when it is done, I will post it to our site.
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
We have a great farm budgeting tool that is very easy to use and everything can be seen and understood on one screen. Make a one item change in anything such as fertilizer, or acreages and you can see how profits are effected immediately. We are a CPA firm with a niche in farming clients which is how this tool was made. I would love the opportunity to show it to you.