Comments on: Agile Budgeting For Startups – Cash is King

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:32 +0000

My thoughts on that is that a budget is a target of what you will work to hit. Either minimums (revenue) or maximums (costs). A forecast on the other hand, is a prediction of that you expect to happen. For a startup there can be value in a budget, because it forces you to think about how much revenue you need and what your costs are and how they might be reduced. More value in my experience comes from an accurate, real-time picture of what WILL happen in the next two months, so that you can make informed decisions.

By: Aristotle

Aristotle — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:44:26 +0000

What’s the difference between a forecast and a budget?

By: Jeff Magnusson » Agile Budgeting – Followup

Jeff Magnusson » Agile Budgeting – Followup — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:30:47 +0000

[...] Here’s a few more resources that have surfaced since my post on Agile Budgeting / Startup Cash Flow Management: [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:47:11 +0000

Thanks Geof, I’ll check it out. Looks like it has similarities!

By: Geof Harries

Geof Harries — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:55:58 +0000

Great explanation and background. As far as process goes, I used to maintain our own Excel spreadsheet, but switched to Pulse a couple of years ago. It has nearly all of the features and functionality as above, but instead is wrapped up in a sweet visual/interaction package.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:28:14 +0000

Thanks Mark, you’re right that this approach provides the most value for a company without huge amounts of funding. That accounts for a pretty big majority of both funded and unfunded these days though, with the low cash amounts involved. It’s not just tiny companies though that can make use of it, we actually had monthly payroll in the six digits but still applied this process to assure that the timing of receivables, investments and debt payments wasn’t going to bite us. The value for my partners and I as a diagnostic and decision tool was extraordinary.

We were relatively small, and we were bootstrapped, so I’d be very interested in learning what kind of processes you see applied where there’s a more mature finance department in place.

By: Mark MacLeod

Mark MacLeod — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:03:11 +0000

Interesting. Good useful tips that I think most apply to bootstrapped, self-funded businesses. While cash is important for funded businesses (like the tech startups I work with), since we have a bunch of angel of VC money, we are less focused on ongoing cash monitoring and more on achieving long term goals that create big increases in shareholder value.

By: jeff

jeff — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:16:14 +0000

Hah I knew you would ask that, and I didn’t get around to checking my options. That sounds fine, I’ve reposted the file with the license info in the properties and I’ll edit the OP. Email me when you get a chance, I know you’re in DC this week. Beer upon return.

By: Boris Mann

Boris Mann — Thu, 13 May 2010 05:57:47 +0000

What’s the license? I recommend CC-Share Alike-By Attribution. Anyone can use it, they need to share changes, and they need to attribute who created it (you).

And yes, this is awesome. And yes, I owe you some email