Budgeting Software Features

Time Savings of Budgeting Software Appeals To Corporate Controller


Company
Smith Container Corporation, founded in 1907 in Atlanta, Georgia, is a leading wholesale distributor of plastic, glass, and metal packaging for every industry.

Business Challenge
Ed Carr wanted to be more efficient and effective in his job as the new controller at Smith Container. He was facile at thumbing through several pages of data and arriving at a conclusion about the budget or overall financial picture. But the CEO and directors of the 91-year-old packaging company were not interested in scanning pages and pages of figures. They want to see that the company is making money, how much and if it is on track with its budget projections - all on one page.

Budgeting software appealed to Carr because it appeared to be a time saving tool in his profession. When he knew he would be making the job switch, he thumbed through several magazines for accounting professionals, comparing features of different budgeting software on the market. Then he sent off for information on the products.

Having a budget program that can consolidate 20 pages of financial data into an understandable summary was important to Carr, because it means he doesn't have to dig through the complete report himself to come up with the big picture. With a history of using Excel spreadsheets for budgeting and planning, he was looking for a solution that would save an enormous amount of time. And he did, with Budget Maestro

Solution
After receiving detailed information on Maestro, he called the company and asked for references - "other people in similar positions who had used the product - to get some feedback from them." "They were very high on the product, all of the contacts," said Carr. "What impressed me was the amount of time they were willing to take to talk with me about the efficiencies they had gained by using the software."

Using Budget Maestro, Carr is now able to see the figures in a meaningful way. "Often with a budget, you're just looking at expenses and income statements," said the accountant for more than 25 years. "One of my goals was also to see budget balance sheets, cash flow and some operating ratios.

"What would have taken me an enormous amount of time to set up, was already built-in to Budget Maestro. Once the data was imported from our general ledger software, all I had to do was push a button to get the reports."

Regarding his budgeting process, Carr said. "As the process moves along, it will be easy to revise my budget, reflecting major significant internal or external changes as they occur. I can quickly update and revise my budget and be more proactive in the management process.

"Rather than looking only at historical information, I will be able to be up front with changes that are more meaningful to the management staff. Maestro will allow us to do that on a timely basis." And that makes Carr very happy.