Your Definitive Guide to Annual Planning - Part 4: How to Pitch an Annual Budget to your Board
Helping you build your annual budget
Part IV: How to Pitch an Annual Budget to your Board (TODAY!)
The moment of truth. I remember the first time as the CFO I had to present an annual operating plan to my board for approval.
I’d long built the plans in the background, but had yet to be the official tour guide.
Since then I’ve done the dance a few times, and I’ve come up with a foolproof way to convey the direction you’d like to steer the business, while explaining the significance from a metrics standpoint of what it would all mean.
Let me guide you through those materials:
What’s the story?
A picture P&L is worth a thousand words. Before you get to the proposed financial statement view, it’s imperative to hit them with the “so what”.
What’s the meaning behind the operating plan? Summarize the story up front.
Do not put this at the end as a summary. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Put this at the start to lead the witness.
And yes, leading the witness is not only permitted, but encouraged, in these sessions.
One more step before getting to the actual P&L - tease out the metrics the board really cares about. They aren’t all accountants, so do the work for them and build a “tear sheet” that speaks their language, which will incorporate SaaS metrics and non-gaap cuts.
I call it a “plan on a page” because if I had to send someone the budget on a single page, I’d send this.
Ok, enough of the foreplay. Let’s look at how you should lay out the proposed budget for approval: