SELF IMPROVEMENT

budget report
Reviewing the operating budget is part of this work. Although most boards have a Finance Committee that does the detailed budget and reporting work, all board members should receive a budget-to-actual report. When should you receive budget reports?
Ideally, you will receive monthly budget reports. For smaller organizations that are run by volunteers, quarterly reports can be acceptable. How detailed should these reports be?
Does the report include comparisons with the previous month's budget report?
Used carefully, monthly budget comparisons can be very useful. When should the board make changes in the budget?
Since a budget is a plan and not a formal financial report, the board is free to make changes any time it likes. How can budget reports be made more user-friendly?

Ah...this is the question. While teaching a financial seminar for board members recently, a participant shared with me a budget report she recently received. No wonder this board member felt unable to actively participate in a budget review.
I always encourage the executive director to work with the finance person to create simple budget reports that contain the information discussed in question #2 above. I can support this only if they are willing to take the time to educate all board members on the complexity of such reports.