You’d be surprised, but most business leaders and financial professionals make important decisions based on incorrect or outdated financial data. Project budget management and resource allocation tools can help you avoid this fate by automating data collection and analysis and delivering accurate reports.
The essence of project budgeting
Project budgeting is the process of setting, managing, and completing the budget for a given project. It begins with project initiation when the manager makes a rough estimate of the budget required in collaboration with his team or his client.
The final budget is set during the project planning phase. The manager considers his company’s overall resources, including employees and their time. The budget is flexible because external and internal changes will affect it at every execution step.
With multiple, often unaccounted-for factors impacting budgets and resource allocation, managers will find technology an enormous reprieve. Below, we outline the best tools and software to aid them in the difficult tasks of budgeting.
Advanced project management software
The best software solutions feature advanced budgeting and financial projections. They allow managers to handle all of their business operations, including financial insights, project and task management, sales projections, project documentation, etc. They enable one to streamline teamwork and obtain key business insights that can help scale company growth with accurate real-time data.
Time tracking is among the most crucial processes one can introduce into daily operations, and the best software solutions make it stress-free. Time tracking lets managers take full control over the staff workload.
Your software should integrate a timesheet calculator, which is a digital tool to record, manage, and calculate working hours. It helps make sure payroll data is accurate, improves accountability, and provides valuable information to make sound management decisions.
Furthermore, software offers employees many ways to track time, even if their workflow varies. You can track time directly on a task-by-task basis or enter the total time after project completion. The best software will allow you to schedule tasks within exact hour ranges.
Resource allocation software
Your resources are not only financial. You have time, human resources, etc. The best allocation software can manage resources in real time, including booking, availability, and capacity planning built into an engaging and intuitive interface.
Users should get an easy overview of all current, past, and future projects. Details for individual tasks should be available as well. Drag-and-drop functions make scheduling easy. You can test different scenarios or book resources. Use a placeholder to determine your needs if you can’t find the right resource.
Sharing insight
It’s necessary to share insight on projects with multiple stakeholders. Insight-sharing tools allow customized reports on productivity, budgeting, ROI, and resource use. Managers can share internally available reports with clients, investors, and partners. The best tools have drag-and-drop functions to alleviate project planning.
Resource calendars
Visual resource calendars have custom filters, fields, and views. Each team member can have a dashboard to let them see the resources allocated. Calendars enable a proactive approach to in-demand resource management with visible waiting lists for resources, easy resource booking, and features to prevent double booking. The best tools send resource summaries that give managers superior insight into resource utilization.
Budgeting and allocation tips for managers
Managers must engage in resource planning regardless of their industry. Poorly planned resource allocation can lead to all kinds of issues, such as budget shortfall after over-allocation and burnout due to excessive HR utilization.
Break the project down into components and list the resources needed for each one. You need to establish the tools and materials, how many people must work, and how many hours each will work. In resource allocation, a client asking for last-minute changes is not unheard of. A key employee can get sick, or you could face shipping delays. It helps to plan for the unexpected.
Final thoughts
It is unwise to start allocating resources and assigning tasks before identifying what needs to be done and when. Make sure you provide accurate information to any resource providers, including expectations and schedules.
