Plansmith Blog

3 Activities to Start ASAP This Fall

Posted by Sue West on 9/14/20 1:23 PM

Oh, Autumn. The changing of the leaves, the crispness of the morning air... and the crunching of numbers?

Yep. We're bankers. It's what we do. And fall, it's the perfect time for some of our favorite - and most crucial - banking activities.

Here are the 3 game-changing activities Plansmith recommends starting as early as possible in the fall:

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My Budget Is Done, Now What?

Posted by Bill Smith on 8/17/20 2:30 PM

Most of us hate planning. So why would I want to start now, when I could wait until the usual time next year?

Actually, there are two great reasons to plan early and often:

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How to excel without Excel

Posted by Brett Hendricks on 8/12/20 10:47 AM

One of the most common calls we take at Plansmith is from a bank or credit union looking to improve their entire budgeting, forecasting, and board reporting process. While the organizations vary greatly in size, and the person calling is sometimes the president and other times a financial analyst – most often they all have one thing in common: “I’m currently using Excel.”

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Managing Consolidated Performance Objectives: Why A Unified Software Platform Is So Important

Posted by Brett Hendricks on 7/8/20 9:00 AM

As Plansmith’s ‘budgeting software’ evolved from its onset in the early 1970s, it became referred to as a ‘profit planning model.’ This distinction was made because it was much more than just balances on a spreadsheet or basic historical trends cast forward for the next year.

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Why Shouldn’t My Financial Institution Use a Budgeting Program That Transcends Industries?

Posted by Megan Plis on 5/5/20 10:28 AM

Banking, like Yogi, is a unique bear. If you haven’t worked in the trenches, you probably just don’t understand it. It’s an industry best served by those who have lived it.

As unique as the industry is – you guessed it – your budgeting solution should be just as unique.

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How Will Rate Changes Impact Your Budget?

Posted by Craig Hartman on 3/11/20 9:48 AM

Everyone probably has their budgets in place for 2020 by now. And now comes along the Coronavirus and messes everything up. The Fed has already lowered rates by half a point. So, now you’re scrambling to figure out how this will impact your 2020 plans?

Seems like you have a few choices:

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Stop Budgeting and Start Planning

Posted by Craig Hartman on 1/17/20 9:16 AM

Most of us have been building annual budgets forever. First on paper spreadsheets, then with electronic spreadsheet like Excel, and now with software budgeting tools that amount to little more than more convenient spreadsheets. But a budget is typically all numeric built with trending and last year’s information. Usually the CEO provides a growth and earnings expectation and we build the budget to make the math work. If you have a system that can also provide rate risk analysis and draw detailed data from your core system, you really have a great system. So, what’s the problem?

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The Worst Budgeting Advice We've Ever Heard

Posted by Megan Plis on 8/1/19 8:08 AM

For almost 50 years, Plansmith has helped financial institutions become better organizations through improved planning. In that time, we've heard a lot of industry chatter - much of it a load of, dare we say, bologna.

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5 Ways Plansmith Simplifies Your Budgeting Process

Posted by Brett Hendricks on 7/8/19 9:35 AM

For most banks and credit unions the annual budgeting process is just that, a “process” that is far from looked forward to.

The CFO gathers data and input from market managers and department heads. The President and CEO then hand down more information as well as targets and objectives that rarely align with the other information. It's then the CFO's and finance team's job to cobble it all together, make it balance, and deliver results to the Board for approval.

As anyone who has been through it knows, the process itself is not cut and dry. To be honest, it can be downright exhausting.

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The Top 3 Lunch 'n Learns to Review for 2019

Posted by Jennifer Mello on 6/21/19 2:49 PM

It’s halfway through the year and a great time to prepare for what’s to come. I've picked the top 3 Lunch 'n Learns you should review before heading into the 2020 planning season.

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