Preparing for Presentation
The author gives the reader a vague sense that presentation is important - that it is possible to agonize over the details, getting a budget accurate and detailed, and get everything about the budget as "right" as possible, but still fail to get buy-in if it is nto presented well.
Combining the Parts
It is not uncommon for the individual parts of a budget to be built separately, even by different people. Ultimately, it will be considered as a whole, so it is suggested that a first step is to create a single table containing the whole budget. At this time, it's also a good idea to make sure all the parts add up when put together.
Revising Assumptions
In many cases, a budget is documented with a lot of working notes about interpretation and assumption. The people to whom a budget is presented generally have not been involved in the process, and they may not understand the notes. They must be rewritten for the aurience.
Key considerations are:
- Can someone other than the author understand a note?
- Are the references clear to others?
- Is the note necessary to understand the budget?
- Is it something the audience will want to know?
- Does the note explain something (not merely justify it)?
If the answers to one or more of these questions is "no," the note should be revised or removed from the budget that will be presented.
Formats
In most cases, there are predefined formats for budgets (in the sense of numerical displays of data). If there are no formal templates, refer to last year's version of the same budget, or another budget for a similar project. These formats should already be familiar to the audience - they not need to "learn" the format to understand the budget.
Account Codes
The accounting codes will not be necessary to anyone except accounting and to the project team when they are comparing actual expenses to budgeted amounts. For most audiences, they can and should be hidden or removed.
Preparing the Presentation
The goal of preparing a presentation is to make the budget understandable to the specific audience to whom it is being presented. Depending on the audience and their needs, the "presentation" may be the delivery of a document, a discussion, a formal presentation, or any combination of them.
The key, as in any presentation, is to consider the audience: their reason for wanting to see the budget, their level of familiarity and expertise, the concerns they can be anticipated to have, and the way in which they will react to the budget. This will dictate the level of detail they will need, the degree to which you must explain rather than merely show, and the general approach that should be taken.
Presentation Materials
As with budget formats, there should be predefined templates for presentations (documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, etc.) that can be leveraged to develop presentation materials
Random Tips
Pulling out some random tips from along the way:
- Use a agenda for meetings to keep them on track and on time. Provide attendees a copy of the agenda.
- When it comes to slides, less is more. Make sure slide titles correspond with the agenda.
- Use visuals for clarity, not decoration
- Write and speak in the active voice
- Explain on what the numbers mean, drawing parallels to the real things they represent
- Focus on the goal, and how each line item contributes to its accomplishment
EN: Just occurred to me ... To create a budget, one looks at real-world phenomena and translates it into dollars. To present a budget, one shows those dollars and translates them back into real-world phenomena.