The Growing Importance of a Rolling Forecast
Often times CFOs get so consumed by what is currently happening with their financials that they leave little time for forecasting. Forecasting represents the best guess of what will happen in the future. By treating your budget as a valuable asset that you consult regularly, you give your management team the opportunity to course-correct as conditions change or new trends emerge. Predicting unforeseen trends and opportunities 12 or 18 months in advance is difficult in any case, which is why the practice gets pushed to the side by many finance professionals. For this reason, it’s worth considering a shift to a rolling forecast. A rolling financial forecast enables corporate finance teams to project out as the year progresses in order to accommodate trends that affect key business drivers.