Forecast a department budget

---
name: forecast-a-department-budget
category: money
description: Build a driver-based department forecast with scenarios, commitments, and decision triggers. Use when leaders need a credible view of future spend rather than a straight-line extrapolation.
---

# forecast-a-department-budget

## Procedure

1. Confirm scope, period, currency, accounting basis, budget version, and source snapshot.
2. Reconcile actuals, open commitments, approved changes, known errors, and remaining budget.
3. Identify drivers such as headcount, rates, volume, contracts, timing, projects, inflation, and foreign exchange.
4. Separate fixed, variable, discretionary, one-time, and pass-through costs.
5. Build base, downside, and upside scenarios with explicit assumptions and dependencies.
6. Backtest the model on prior periods and investigate material error.
7. Review estimates with budget owners and finance without forcing false precision.
8. Publish forecast range, variance drivers, cash or timing effects, risks, and action triggers.

## Guardrails

- Do not mix cash and accrual views or silently change the reporting population.
- Never use hidden plug values to force the desired result.
- Protect payroll, vendor, and commercially sensitive details.

## Done

- A reconciliation check confirms the forecast model matches actuals, commitments, budget, and approved changes
- Driver assumptions, scenarios, backtest error, and uncertainty are documented
- Owners approve the forecast and its decision triggers