Budgeting and Forecasting - Best Practices

One of the most serious challenges faced by financial professionals is that of providing accurate and reliable budgets and forecasts. Budgets in particular are key operational tools that provide authorization for use of company resources. A budget is also used to measure of a manager's effectiveness in administering those resources. Forecasts are often critical to ensuring that good strategic decisions are made. Considering the importance of budgets and forecasts, one would logically conclude that financial professionals are aware of best practices and implement these in building and managing budgets and forecasts.