The Definitive Guide to Business Finance: What smart managers do with the numbers, Second Edition

Ten hard questions to ask or be asked

1	Why didn’t I/we start the budget process a month earlier so that we could have met the deadlines?
2	Just because we are already spending $x on that, does it make it right?
3	Are these spending plans graded according to importance/expected returns?
4	If I had to hack out 10%, what would I cut?
5	Is our budgeting process too rigid? Should we use rolling and/or flexible budgets?
6	Are we consistent in format and assumptions across the organization?
7	Who set these targets? Does the manager who will have to operate within them believe in them?
8	Does the budget form part of a wider set of performance measures? If not, why not?
9	How well are we monitoring progress? What is the trend in the trend?
10	Did we complete ...