If you're thinking of investing in budgeting software, making the most of budgeting software of the 21st century has become easier, with products that are more capable of letting you handle complex jobs. From software that comes with scanning hardware for storing documents, to software with forecasting capabilities, many of the programs are so user-friendly that they can be implemented by novices with either PC or Mac operating systems. Your company's human resources staff may want a program that factors in payroll. For technical support, many of these budgeting software programs come with online, even live, customer support or support via CD that you can download onto your business' computer for future reference. For the right price, top-notch companies offer in-house training seminars for any number of employees.

If you want software with specialty solutions for your business, use these budget and forecast software resources:

1. Full-featured, enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions that communicate with your favorite spreadsheet program

2. Forecasting business budget software

3. Software complete with scanning capabilities

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Multi-task with high-performance budgeting and planning software, and keep it simple

From small, everyday tasks such as personnel planning and payroll, to ERP, multi-tasking business budget software can take care of it all. ERP models were specifically developed to ensure that your business is pooling all of its budgeting resources into one goal, and specific add-ins can help you look at all your financial data in familiar Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in a real-time setting. With a simple download, you can use this tool to configure your data into source-related reports that even ERP budgeting novices can use.

I recommend: Prophix Software and Centage offer ERP business budgeting solutions. Automatically populate and access "live" Excel spreadsheets with your business' budget data using Spreadsheet Server from Global Software.

Peek into forecasting software and evaluate upcoming trends

If you're looking to forecast the future of your business profits, add the forecasting feature to whatever brand you buy. These features are especially handy if you buy and trade in stocks and should always have real time capabilities. Forecasting software uses proven statistical methods to keep you on the right track towards your business goals.

I recommend: Award-winning forecast software maker Forecast Pro features three different software editions. John Galt Solutions offers a popular business forecasting tool kit.

Find tools to handle a transition to paperless business budgeting software

If you're thinking of making the transition to a paperless office with your business budgeting software, consider purchasing a program with scanning capabilities or finding a multi-platform compatible add-in. You can shred your stacks of invoices and contracts and manage them all easily electronically, saving your company thousands of dollars annually. Keeping contracts integrated with your budgeting software also makes them available for easy reference.

I recommend: Both Version One and ReadSoft feature software that integrates with a variety of document scanners for a complete document management and imaging system to enhance your total budgeting and forecasting software solution.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Even if you want to use budget software for business to help you go paperless, think about keeping your paper documents for at least five years. Even if you have to store them off-site, they may come in handy in case of a business tax audit.

Use the power of budgeting software to plan your budget and monitor day-to-day progress. Budgeting software choices range from popular programs that can be customized to packages that can be located on your company's own server. A quality budgeting software package should:

1. Serve as a common forum for budget planning and budget forecasting.
2. Easily extract data from popular spreadsheet and database programs.
3. Seamlessly link suppliers and customers to the budgeting process as required.
4. Be easy enough to use so employees at all levels can create and understand budgets.
5. Be scaleable and powerful enough so that data can be extracted and utilized for more robust financial analysis.
6. Contain tools to help budgeters comply with current and future industry and government regulations.
7. Come from a software firm that provides bulletproof security features, ongoing product support and regular upgrades.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Assess your company's budgeting requirements

Every company is different. A real estate development firm might create a fresh budget for each new project, while a medical office might work from a single operations budget year after year.

I recommend: Create a working group drawn from all employees to analyze your company's current budgeting process and forecast its future needs. Palo Alto Software, with the co-sponsorship of the Small Business Administration, created an online presentation that guides entrepreneurs in strategic-planning areas such as the budgeting process. Also check out Law.com's online guide to small business budgeting.

Explore budgeting software already widely used in your industry

Choosing an industry-standard package can help speed the learning curve for new employees who may have used the program elsewhere. Consult your accounting and financial employees, who may have strong preferences about packages.

I recommend: Just as Microsoft Excel has become the standard business spreadsheet application, budgeting/accounting software packages such as Intuit's QuickBooks: Pro 2006 and Microsoft Dynamics also have wide followings. Compare budget planning and budget forecasting features of packages and visit vendor sites at the Web site Capterra's Budgeting Software Directory. Find more budgeting software and accounting software at Business.com.

Choose between hosted and non-hosted budgeting solutions

Third-party hosting companies can provide seamless online access to budgeting software, a feature that's especially important if members of the budget team work in different locations.

I recommend: Adaptive Planning, Expensewatch and Netsuite's NetERP are three hosted enterprise solutions that integrate budgeting with operations monitoring. Find more enterprise resource planning software at Business.com. QuickBooks Online Edition's may suit the needs of smaller firms.

Introduce a new budgeting package via a company-wide training program

New budget software can spark a company-wide initiative to make everyone more aware of budget planning and budget forecasting that, in turn, can enhance cash flow.

I recommend: Save time, money and effort by opting for products that include detailed online training courses. Though geared to non-profits, the Foundation Center's online course on budgeting embodies the same techniques used by small companies.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure those with budgeting responsibility regularly input their actual numbers.
• •  Monitor budgets regularly as they're being implemented and devise alarms when current and projected numbers deviate significantly from budget forecasting.
• •  Develop methods to compare departmental and company-wide budgets year over year to aid in forecasting and analysis.
• •  In budget planning, assign a probability to each of your projections to identify where spending may exceed allotted amounts. For example, a budget's energy usage projection might have a low probability as long as energy prices remain volatile, while costs such as employee parking spaces may be easier to pinpoint.

Big or small, your business will benefit from budgeting software. Budgeting software lets you not only prioritize where to allocate your money but also lets you factor in costs you might not expect, helping you avoid deviating from budgeting plans. Whether your software lets you budget daily, weekly or monthly, the right budgeting software will aid you in tasks such as paying off debt, control spending and saving for future expenses. Large budgeting software companies tailor their software for business based on size while others offer one product with almost unlimited capabilities. Many programs even offer the ability to store and integrate tax information so you're promptly prepared when tax season rolls around. If you have a home office, you may be able to budget with inexpensive financial budgeting software without all the bells and whistles.

Get your business organized and prepared with the following budgeting software resources:

1. Budgeting and planning software tailored to big business

2. Small business budgeting software

3. Budgeting software for home office settings

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get portable and integrated budgeting and planning software for big businesses

Lots of packages for big businesses include forecasting software, but if you're looking for something simpler but easy to manage, look for a program that integrates with Microsoft Excel, the standard in spreadsheets. Most corporations rely on Excel, which also makes information portable within various computer programs.

I recommend: A3 is corporate budgeting software that works with Excel in a real-time setting. Markitsoft Limited features corporate budgeting software demos.

Turn to the Web for a small business budgeting software industry overview

Most manufacturers of small business budgeting software know that an office manager or owner, not an accountant, will be managing the business budget, so these programs tend to be easy-to-use and feature capabilities such as bill pay and expense tracking. And, if your small business is big enough, you may want to purchase a program with payroll capabilities.

I recommend: Intuit is user-friendly and comes with payroll features. Microsheets Systems Products offers software that lets your small business manage time, expenses and invoices.

Try super simple business budget software for a home office

Are you working with just one other person or in a home office? Try out business budget software especially suited for one or two person operations. You can look for some handy features, like Excel integration, just as you would with budgeting software for corporations.

I recommend: Adarus offers a 4-step training wizard for their home office software. File Transit features home office software Ancsoft which lets you record, reconcile and report.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you won't be managing you budget software for business on your own, make sure you can trust the person who will, as you would with any other finances.

Small business owners are often tasked with many jobs. The small business owner must sometimes act as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Marketing and Human Resources Manager simultaneously. Using the right budgeting software can greatly reduce the number of hours spent analyzing marketing strategies, evaluating business assets and payroll duties. By implementing the correct budgeting software, business owners can utilize more of their time in growth opportunities, such as sales and product development.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Excel Integration

Many of the newest versions of budgeting software allow the user to import Excel files to the application or to use the software as an Excel spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel is a common software application that many people are able to use for budgeting. Allowing the end-user to integrate Excel spreadsheets makes budgeting software accessible to a wide range of users.

I recommend: Invensys Process Systems (IPS) SIM4ME Portal allows the program to be used as an Excel spreadsheet, whereas MapleSoft allows easy import and use of Excel spreadsheets within their software.

Payroll software

Payroll software allows businesses to simplify payrolls by calculating tax withholding, creating tax documents and generating pay checks. Users may also use payroll programs for budgeting taxes and track possible tax deductions.

I recommend: Intuit Online Payroll automatically calculates each employees earnings and withholding once the user enters hours for the employee. Intuit payroll software allows the user to generate pay checks or pay through direct deposit. Additionally, Online Payroll allows the user to calculate taxes for the business and pay online.

Valuation

Assigning value to any earnings or investment is a useful tool in budgeting software. Determining the growth of an income or potential value of an asset impacts how an item is factored into the business plan or budget.

I recommend: Cougar Software offers budgeting software valuation strategies with customizable calculations for method of direct or possible income.

Forecasting capabilities

Budgeting software allows the user to quickly review overall and upcoming trends in their business to best allocate resources in preparation of future opportunities. For example, data regarding the past purchases of a customer may allow the user to make predictions on the future needs of that customer. Likewise, reviewing the success of failure of past promotions may allow the user to adjust marketing for future promotions to make better use of marketing efforts.

I recommend: A detailed description of the benefits of using forecasting to analyze promotions, client purchases, efficient staffing methods can be found at SAS Institute.

Key Assumptions

Key assumptions, or budget assumptions are the predicted values and costs built into each budget, such as the expected revenue of an asset. Other budget assumptions factor in the anticipated cost of maintenance or repairs and bonuses or incentives promised to employees. Budgeting software will automatically calculate any key assumptions assigned to the budget by the user.

I recommend: The human resources consultant group, Mercer LLC offers examples of key assumptions that are expected to be analyzed more intensely in the current market. XLerant Solutions lists some of the key assumptions that can be easily programmed into the XLerant budgeting software currently available.

Bookkeeping software

Bookkeeping software maintains ledgers of client and vendor activity. This information is used to keep up-to-date with vendor payments and client invoices. Bookkeeping software is also an efficient tool for tracking and maintaining proper inventory.

I recommend: Intuit QuickBooks Pro is the most popular bookkeeping software for small businesses. QuickBooks offers many of the same functions as other budgeting software including tracking finances and generating tax documents.