Businesses can use flexible reports to manage finances with budgeted numbers. Generally, these reports contain a series of categories, including salaries, sales, wages, and expenses. These reports are adjustable depending on the company’s needs, staff changes, or unexpected expenses. This gives directors and management teams a wider picture of their companies’ financial performance and forecast to adjust business strategies accordingly.

A flexible budget report is a management report that compares the actual results (costs and revenue) achieved within a specific period to the budgeted or forecasted results based on the actual sales volume. Put simply; it compares the actual budget with the flexible budget. Unlike a static budget, it allows for adjustments to be made during the year to account for various levels of activities, revenues, and expenses. Flexible budgets are modified throughout the year in real-time to account for actual sales numbers, changes in production costs, and any additional changes in business operations.

So, how does this improve budgeting?

Having more flexibility with data allows healthcare businesses to replicate all existing reporting structures and extrapolate necessary data points. In turn, this can enhance decision-making and budgeting report accuracy. Here are some of the top ways in which flexible reports improve budgeting.

Automated Calculations of Accrual Time Tracking

When an employee has accrued time off but has not yet taken it, this must be registered in the

organization’s payroll system. When a company has tens or hundreds of employees, the management and tracking of this accrual time can get complex and difficult. In many healthcare facilities, accrued time expires after a specific period (usually 12 months). The employees either get offered the option to transfer it over to the next period or lose it altogether. Using flexible reporting can allocate staff members according to their accrued time off, so it is honored before it expires.

Similarly, when an employee has worked for the company for a particular length of time, it may bring them specific enhancements. This requires an additional level of budget management within the payroll department and could, therefore, be managed more easily using a flexible reporting system.

Time Off Reporting

Time off can include requested annual leave, career’s leave, or sick leave. If this is not accurately reported, it may cause employees to lose their entitled sick pay, something that around 58% of healthcare workers in Canada already don’t have access to.

The unpredictable nature of careers and sick leave makes budgeting forecasts difficult to get right.

Accurate reports can’t be generated when management teams that organize payments don’t know

which employees will be off when they will be sick or how long their sickness period will last. Since the pandemic, there have also been changes in the existing leaves of absence.

Using flexible reporting systems enables staff within these departments to adjust staff rotations, wages, and finances as and when necessary. For example, healthcare providers can inventory loads and budgets for the procurement of drugs. In turn, yearly budgets can be maintained, and forecasts can be predicted more accurately.

OT Audit Reporting

An auditor’s report states the opinion of an external auditor regarding a company’s financial statements. Their reports are based on bank statements, balance sheets, and directors’ reports. For these audits to be accurate, the financial documentation of the company must be error-free. The best way to ensure a positive auditor opinion is to keep up-to-date records of the company’s finances. Using a flexible approach to budget reporting means that any financial data can be monitored and adjusted to maintain accurate and precise reports.

Reporting by Location

Flexible reporting allows for budgeting to be allocated and reported based on location. This can include several in a pod or an entire agency at once, depending on the nature and needs of the business.

Final Thoughts

For accurate budgeting based on performance metrics throughout the year, companies must estimate whether or not budgets have achieved the expected results. Although most companies will have a budget holder or project manager responsible for overseeing this reporting, every staff member within the organization must contribute to accurate management reporting by providing any necessary information to the management team, whether this is regarding paid leave, unpaid absence, or changes to staff wages. In return, managers must provide feedback on staff performance and suggest any possible changes and improvements that can be made.

To learn more about the importance and benefits of using flexible reporting to improve budgeting, contact GoEasyCare today or visit our website.