Budgeting: An Important Part of Running a Business
Marla Noel explains why budgeting is not just a finance exercise but a core business discipline for cash flow, decision-making, and growth planning. She walks through how to build a practical budget from real historical data, how to account for revenue, expenses, salaries, and cost of sales, and why the process should start early enough for leadership review before the new year. In this solo episode, Marla focuses on one main topic: building a realistic annual budget that helps a business avoid cash shortfalls and stay aligned with its goals. The guidance is especially useful for owners and leaders who need a budget that is detailed enough to use, but flexible enough to reflect real-world changes.
Key topics
- Marla explains why budgeting should begin in September and be finished in November so leadership can review it before January.
- She frames budgeting as a tool for cash control, target-setting, and decision-making, not just a spreadsheet task.
- Revenue should be budgeted line by line based on business type, whether services billed by volume or products sold by unit.
- She stresses using last year’s numbers as a starting point but not copying totals without understanding what drove them.
- Any projected revenue increase should have a reason, such as price increases, new salespeople, new services, or a new division.
- Expenses should be estimated using a 12-month view, with unusual one-time costs excluded unless they are expected to recur.
- Cost of sales belongs below revenue and should include direct costs tied to production or delivery.
- She warns that revenue growth can strain cash flow if customer payments lag behind payroll and other obligations.
- Marla recommends building cash reserves equal to six months of administrative expenses as protection against disruption.
- Budget assumptions should be documented in the spreadsheet so anyone reviewing it can understand the reasoning behind the numbers.
- She says the finished budget should be reviewed by the CEO and, if applicable, the board before the fiscal year begins.
Timestamps
(0:28) Why budgeting matters and what this episode covers
(1:27) Cash flow, targets, and the danger of running out of money
(2:19) Why budgets are estimates, not perfect predictions
(3:20) Starting with revenue by business type
(4:17) Justifying revenue growth with real strategy
(5:11) Using prior-year data to estimate expenses
(6:06) Handling unusual expenses and separate salary planning
(7:30) How seasonality affects revenue and cash flow
(8:25) Accounting for inflation and rising business costs
(8:54) Linking aggressive growth goals to staffing needs
(9:53) Why Marla recommends six months of cash reserves
(10:53) Calculating cost of sales for product businesses
(11:50) Separating direct costs from administrative expenses
(14:18) Comparing against prior-year numbers and reviewing the draft
(15:43) Aligning the budget with profitability and business goals
(16:42) Capturing assumptions inside the spreadsheet
(17:35) Sharing budgeting responsibility with department heads
Action Items
- Start the budgeting process early, ideally in September.
- Use prior-year financials as the foundation for next year’s budget.
- Write down the assumptions behind every major revenue and expense estimate.
- Separate salary planning from the rest of the budget if that makes the process clearer.
- Check whether projected growth is supported by staffing, pricing, and operations.
- Review the draft budget with leadership before the fiscal year starts.
- Build or protect cash reserves, especially for administrative expenses.
